


Caught In A Fantasy Part 2

by Artemisdesari, Jimiel



Series: Caught In A Series [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Age Differences by Fantasy Standards, Cultural Differences, Female Bofur, Found Family, Interracial By Fantasy Standards, MGiME, Modern Girl in Middle Earth, Polyamory, Post Quest For Erebor, Quarantine Baby, Soul Forms, elemental powers, indulgence fic, soul bonds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:41:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29352861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemisdesari/pseuds/Artemisdesari, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jimiel/pseuds/Jimiel
Summary: Picking up right where Caught In A Fantasy part 1 left off...It has been nineteen years since Penny, and eighteen years since Vesta, were plucked from their homes and sent to Middle-Earth. And Penny has only just revealed why almost a decade after she learned the reason they were chosen.Updates Sundays!
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Bofur, Fili/Original Female Character/Kili, Glorfindel/Original Female Character, Nori/Dwalin/Dis, Original Character/Original Character
Series: Caught In A Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156154
Comments: 125
Kudos: 16





	1. You Don't Own Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You don't own me  
> I'm not just one of your many toys  
> You don't own me  
> Don't say I can't go with other boys
> 
> And don't tell me what to do  
> Don't tell me what to say  
> And please, when I go out with you  
> Don't put me on display 'cause
> 
> You don't own me  
> Don't try to change me in any way  
> You don't own me  
> Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay
> 
> ~[Lesyley Gore, _You Don't Own Me_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpvirQ-hPA)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those too timid to slog through the 160 chapters of part 1... Basically modern girls get sent to middle-earth, turned into halfbreeds, help reclaim Erebor and prevent certain deaths, fall in love, get married, have kids, yadda-yadda... And now on to the next tasks: preparing for the remaking of the world!

Glorfindel felt his face and the grip he had on Penny’s hand go slack at the revelation. He had known she was hiding something she did not wish to share. He knew she had picked up a habit of collecting the oddest and rarest things since they had started playing ‘pirates.’ He even knew she had snuck into a few places and obtained some objects rather illegally in some of the southern ports… But he never could have guessed that it was because she was slowly preparing for the remaking of the world!

Vesta was watching Glorfindel carefully as her sister spoke, even as she took in Penny’s words. It was not so much of a shock to her as it possibly should have been. She had read enough of the lore before her arrival after all and she knew that the dwarves had a prophecy that the final rebirth of Durin would be the one before the world was to be remade. So that this was the  _ Final _ Age rather than the fourth was not all that much of a surprise. That Penny was supposed to be focusing on gathering information and artifacts was, but it would probably explain her sudden urge to play pirate.

As to the rest.

“You’re a fucking idiot, do you know that?” The dwobbit asked almost conversationally. “Were you trying to stubborn your way out of the job? Did it not occur to you that if you  _ told _ people what you were up to they might be a little bit more understanding of your weirdness while you were ignoring it? And I get keeping it from me, Fíli and Kíli, we’re going to die in two hundred years or so, give or take a couple of decades, provided nothing else gets us first so it’s not like it’s something we need to really worry about. But did it occur to you that telling your  _ husband _ , who is going to be with you  _ forever _ , might make your life a bit easier?”

“I have been told that, from time to time.” Penny said, smirking rather humorlessly. “And… Can you blame me? How many people would react well to knowing there’s a time limit on everything they know? I wasn’t given an exact date on when the timer runs out, just that it’s started. And strangely, after Meneldor said the Valar referred to my marriage as an ‘unfortunate distraction,’ no… I was not inclined to tell my husband.”

“If they were that determined our line continue,” Kíli pointed out, “I doubt it is something that will happen overnight. The other ages have taken thousands of years. I suspect that this one will do the same.”

“If they didn’t want you to fall in love,” Vesta began, then sighed, “but they tried to put something in place to stop that as well didn’t they?” She huffed. “Except I wouldn’t have called it an ‘unfortunate distraction’. Without the retroactive effects of the soul bond it’s possible Fíli and Kíli might not have been so forgiving of all the secrets and lies.”

“We might have been,” Fíli argued, “but I will admit that the decades of dreams of you certainly helped.”

Penny nodded slowly. “The Valar did try to prevent my falling in love and marrying Glorfindel. I’m not sure exactly what, but apparently the reason it stopped was because one of the Valar pointed out that Glorfindel would be a good guard for me and the upcoming task…” She scowled, shaking her head before moving on. “There’s something… I don’t know the details. Not everyone is going to be torn apart in the remaking.” She considered. “Well, that’s how Meneldor phrased it. Some people, maybe a couple hundred at most, are going to be put to sleep, their memories altered as if what they knew before was a dream, to be awakened in the new world. It could be your grandchildren for all I know. I do know that the line of Durin is considered important enough that it’s on a list of bloodlines we’re supposed to keep track of and make sure survives... What I also know is that the elf-bloods that are going to be safeguarding the knowledge? We have to live through the remaking. For however long it takes.” The dwelf paused before adding, “And there could have been something else to trigger your soul bond. Randoron did say you were capable of taking soul form long before that.”

"Randoron said it was a bad idea," Vesta reminded her sister. "Even taking into account the fact that I  _ can _ do the soul thing now, I don't. It doesn't seem right. I've done it twice and hated it both times."

"Three times," Kíli pointed out. "The first time was an accident."

"Three times," the dwobbit conceded. "But having seen what it did to Belladonna I can't see it being something I would have done willingly. No matter how useful it is."

“It is not always a matter of willingly.” Glorfindel stated. “When the ability exists there is always a chance that something could have accidentally thrown you out of your body. Especially times of intense emotions, trauma, and injury. The first elves were not taught. It was something they learned in just that way.”

"Either way," Vesta shook her head, "if something had happened to make my soul pop out of my body and I wasn't in the middle of a good shag, I wouldn't have continued things with them. I love them both, but I wouldn't have tied us together like that. It's useful, but it causes problems too. And we don't need the extra problems."

“I’m not sure you’d have been given much of a choice, Vesta.” Penny said softly, cautiously. “Look at how insatiable you were before. There were times I thought you’d go insane if you didn’t get laid. And the dreams that made it worse? The Valar… They set you up to bond with someone.”

The dwobbit hummed, the ball of fire she had been playing with throughout flared brighter and Kíli looked at her in sudden alarm. 

“In which case,” she seemed to purr, “I would very likely have spent a lot of time in volcanos Silmaril diving. As it is, I think maybe it’s time for me to pack my little branch of the line of Durin up into a boat full of elves sailing west. I have a few choice things I want to say to the Valar. The nicest one being ‘Fuck you’. I give zero shits about their grand plan, as soon as it became something that they  _ programmed  _ me to do? They don’t get to fuck with you, they don’t get to fuck with me and they certainly don’t get to fuck with my husbands. And I’ll burn their precious Valinor to the ground if I have to in order to make that point.”

Before anyone else got a chance to respond, Penny chirped brightly, “We have a ship!”

“I do not think that is the best idea. Any of those ideas. Valinor… Only those with permission may leave. If you went there, angered the Valar, you would never be able to leave.” Glorfindel said. “And if you can never leave, the… Programming in your minds would drive you insane for being unable to complete your tasks.” He looked between Vesta and Penny. “You two may be able to tap into the strength of Arda, but the Valar…” 

“Do you remember how horrified you were when Penny thought that necklace was a symbol of you enslaving her?” Vesta cut him off. “Well, get used to feeling that again. Because your precious  _ Valar _ ,” she spat the word as though it was something disgusting, “have enslaved us and stolen our free will. I think I would rather go insane than do anything  _ they _ might want. And if I can’t burn Valinor to the ground, maybe I’ll just make sure no one else can get there. I have come very close to losing my mind once, Glorfindel, because of what they made me into. And I happen to have heard that they can’t set foot on this part of Arda again. So maybe it’s time the slaves decided to break their chains.”

Glorfindel shook his head suddenly, tightening his grip on Penny’s hand and pulling her close. The dwelf was visibly trembling. “Vesta, what you are speaking of is apparently a threat to the line of Durin. I can feel the programming in Penny starting to kick in. I am actively dampening it at the moment.”

“Is it now?” The dwobbit asked, her ball of fire growing a little bit hotter and a little bit brighter. “Because the way I see it, I’m preventing my children from ending up orphaned while I run off like a good  _ dog _ to take Moria back for my masters. I wonder which of us would die first, me from oxygen deprivation or her from being burnt.”

Fíli and Kíli had also tensed, although they were looking at Glorfindel rather than their wife. The fact that the three of them had been manipulated into their relationship had been something that had come up in the past, but hearing it confirmed like this still hurt. As much as Vesta had been used as a game piece on a board, so had they. Nor was her reluctance to take Khazad-dûm back a new development. She had expressed a number of times that she disliked the idea of trying to win their ancient home back while it carried the possibility of leaving their children without parents. It was something of a rock and a hard place, one that neither of them believed could be resolved for the time being.

“I think the two of you might be better served leaving,” Kíli said as Fíli moved to stand with their wife. “I think we all need the opportunity to think over what we’ve learnt and decide what we do from here.”

“And I believe we now know the true reason Penny was reluctant to explain her behavior and the reason for it to anyone.” Glorfindel murmured. He nodded to Kíli. “With your permission, we shall retire to the inn. And, should we not see you or hear from you before then, we will depart to return to Imladris after lunch.” The ellon reached into a pocket and pulled out a variety of disks. They were each engraved with a different initial. “The emergency buttons, as promised.” They were each made of two thin, pale golden disks. “Merely slide them apart to activate them and then again to deactivate them.” Once the buttons were handed over, the ellon wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and guided her from the room, still keeping her programming dampened as best he could.

\- - -

It took probably an hour after Glorfindel and Penny returned to their room at the inn for Glorfindel to convince the programming in Penny’s head that Vesta was just angry and was not really intending to do anything detrimental to the line of Durin. He had to remind her of all the times Vesta lashed out and that it was most likely a side effect of being so closely linked to the fiery blood of Arda.

While they were lying next to each other, tired and worn, Penny murmured, “I’m sorry.”

“You are not at fault, my heart.” Glorfindel said, brushing one hand along the length of Penny’s back.

“I know.” The dwelf replied. “But I can’t make  _ them _ apologize to you.” She idly drew circles on his chest while they snuggled.

“I admit it was difficult to hear that despite thinking you were gifted to me by the Valar they were actively trying to keep us apart, but I just have to remember… Almost from the time we met, everyone believed we would be married soon.” Glorfindel reminded her. “I was drawn to you almost from the beginning and it was a scandal the others believed would result in us wed before the end of the first year together.”

“I don’t know…” Penny said, sounding skeptical despite Glorfindel being able to feel her amusement. “I once vowed to be single for life… I’m not sure you could have charmed your way through that.”

Glorfindel scoffed, “Your sister told me your secrets.” He murmured before deepening his voice, “It was only a matter of time until I got you to set aside your vow…”

Penny gasped and swatted his chest, causing him to chuckle. “Not here, we promised no fooling around in the mountain.”

“Not even now that we’ve figured out the trick to prevent me from sharing how you make me feel?” Glorfindel murmured, teasing.

“Especially not now.” Penny grumbled. “I’m not letting them know we figured it out!”

The ellon laughed, “It is not as if they would know, my heart…”

“Then you wouldn’t be doing it right if no one figured out something was going on in here!”

Glorfindel continued to laugh softly, holding his heart close.

\- - -

“What will we do now?” Kíli asked once they had looked in on their children and retired to their bed. All three were reluctant to touch, keenly feeling the manipulations which had begun their relationship even though they knew that whatever emotions had grown from it were genuine.

“We’ll give her a few days to think I’ve backed down,” the dwobbit replied. “And once she’s gone I’ll write a couple of letters to a couple of people who I think will be  _ very _ interested in learning how misplaced their faith in…” she gritted her teeth, “those  _ beings _ is. Once those have been taken by the ravens I think I’ll be taking a trip to the Grey Havens. I’ll give the elves there a very clear and very  _ pointed _ message to pass on.”

“Is that wise?” Fíli asked, his hand moving to reach for her before he let it fall again, not entirely certain how she would take the touch.

“I’m no one’s  _ puppet _ ,” the dwobbit snarled. “Time to cut the strings. Besides, if they don’t back off it will be a very long time until  _ any _ elf gets to leave Middle Earth.”

“And if they send Penny after you?” Fíli pressed.

“Then I guess we get to see whether fire or wind wins after all,” Vesta smirked. “But either way, some part of their grand plan falls apart.”

\- - -

The next morning found Penny seated in Dori’s bakery. His new place had a cafe area in the front and it rather reminded Penny of a modern fast food place. She was munching on some treats, having purchased a selection and talking with Balin. Since it was a bakery it was still early and Balin was not yet needed anywhere else, so it was an interesting conversation. For the both of them. The dwelf had a curiosity about the various books and artifacts found in Erebor and wanted to know all about Balin’s favorites. Then she teased him, building up hypothetical situations and asking about what the ‘one thing’ he could save would be.

Balin was a wise dwarf though and properly answered that he would save Dori, of course. Which had Penny cooing over how adorable they were before amending the hypothetical scenarios with people being able to save themselves. There was a long list of interesting things Balin apparently thought were worth saving and he definitely earned ‘Best Husband’ points for how many of those things were Dori’s… Eventually though it was time for the dwarf to leave and the dwelf was left alone at her table, munching on her treats.

When she left to head back to the inn where Glorfindel was still lazing in bed, the dwelf was carrying a basket filled with brownies.

\- - -

Vesta did spend the following day writing her letters. One to Elrond, one to Thranduil and one to Galadriel. All three letters were close to identical in their content, in which she outlined all of the revelations of her discussion with Penny the previous day in detail. Or at least, all of the details that she had, with a request that they be discrete about who they shared the information with. She had no idea whether any of them had known about it, although of all of them Elrond was the most likely to have done, but the letters made it abundantly clear that she felt that she had been manipulated, enslaved and treated as little more than a tool for a job rather than a living and breathing being. As far as she was concerned, anyone who had aided the Valar in taking away her choices and freedom, as well as that of her husbands and sister, had betrayed her on the deepest of levels and since she could not get to Valinor to exact her revenge upon  _ them _ , those in Middle Earth who had enabled it were on her hit list. They had stood by and allowed her to be enslaved and turned into a brood mare for the whims of the Valar, regardless of her feelings for her husbands now, and that was tantamount to approval of the actions that the Valar had taken.

Since none of the instructions that had been hardwired into her mind seemed to be aimed at the same goals as Penny, as far as she was concerned there was absolutely nothing at all preventing her from expressing her distaste for such actions via the destruction of the things that  _ they _ held dear. She would not take their freedoms from them, but since so much of what she had loved had been taken from her, it was only fair to spread the suffering. She was not an incubator for the line of Durin, she was not a weapon, she was not a dog that they could point in a certain direction and instruct to perform a task. To have been stolen from her life, and  _ worse _ to be told by someone she had trusted that it was unfortunate while he had helped to push her  _ back _ onto the path the Valar had put her on, was unforgivable. 

That done she sent the letters out with three different ravens, sat back, and waited for a couple of days. There was no sense in charging off while Penny was nearby after all.

\- - -

After leaving Erebor, Penny and Glorfindel did not head directly to Imladris. Instead they went south to Gondor where they collected the Wedhellion early and started sailing down the Anduin to the sea. The ship would do much better finishing the winter and gathering dust in the Havens. Besides, some of the elves there might be as obsessively tidy as Fandaer and would love the chance to keep the ship clean while no one was using it.

\- - -

Thranduil was closest, and it was less than a day before his response to Vesta’s letter arrived. He was, to put it mildly, appalled that any being would try to take away the free will of a person. He might have implied that it was much more fun to just lock them away and watch them fight the imprisonment than to enslave them and break them, but it was hidden well enough that no one could call the Mirkwood king out on the comment specifically.

Surprisingly Thranduil also said that he made certain to warn all of his people still to head west, to be aware of each other and any changes they might make to their behavior that was not in line with their normal personalities or desires in the event the Valar tried to control them as well. He stated that he absolutely would not have approved of sending anyone on that fool quest of a stubborn dwarf king and had they come to his kingdom instead of that meek excuse for a lord’s he would have allowed them to remain and choose their own destinies.

Finally, the elf king said that at the words of the Lady of the House of the Golden Flower, the elves of Mirkwood would be there in a moment’s notice to offer any assistance needed in protecting the children. For as long as the elves of Mirkwood remained.

\- - -

Vesta laid the letter from Thranduil aside with a satisfied smile. With that out of the way, and she had not missed the fact that the Woodland King had decided to tweak her nose about locking them all up, she turned her attention to the next part of her plan. Penny would be far enough away by now not to immediately stop her. There was some question about whether she was still faster at the outset, but her sister was not the only one who had gained speed and stamina after the loss of her elemental companion. Vesta was faster and hotter these days as well. 

She was also still very angry, an emotion she had long found to help when she needed a bit of a boost where her abilities were concerned. 

Given that she wanted to ensure a clear message reached the Valar, she was not prepared to wait until Elrond or Galadriel, both of whom she knew would eventually go west, departed. It could, after all, be a hundred years or more until they did that. Instead it would have to be taken by the elves who were heading west, and that would mean going to Mithlond to make certain that it was taken, even if she had to scorch the words into the decks and hulls of departing ships to do it. Nor would it be a short trip. Vesta did not for a second think that she could make the journey all in one go without a break for some rest, and she was not going to stop off in Imladris where Elrond might try to talk her out of it. Frankly, her faith in Elrond had taken a hard knock since Penny’s revelation. He had allowed her to get away with too many ridiculous things, after all, and with little to no sign of the protectiveness she would have thought to see when faced with someone who was, to all intents and purposes, a child. 

She would fly until she tired, stop for the night and hunt down some dinner, and continue the following day. Neither Fíli nor Kíli liked it, but she pointed out that she had no idea what the next part of the Valar’s plan was or what the instructions they had placed into her head and Penny’s might make her do if it seemed that she was taking too long to accomplish the goals they had set out for her. While she would never be a danger to their children, it was very possible that such a thing would make her a danger to herself and to others around her. That was unacceptable and was ultimately the reason that they had given in. Everyone else was simply told that she had been summoned to deal with a problem relating to the elves in the Grey Havens and she would be gone for at least a week. 

None of them mentioned that she was going to be the problem for the elves in the Grey Havens. 

Her trip was, almost predictably, dull. There were advantages to not feeling the cold, and being able to cook a creature in it’s skin once she had killed it. It was not the  _ best _ tasting food, but it kept her going. It was late when she finally spotted the shipyard, half full of boats that ranged from complete to just begun. Of Penny’s ship there was no sign, though Vesta was not entirely sure whether that was a relief or not, as she hovered above them. Her arrival, of course, could not be missed. Fire in a bay full of wooden ships would be cause for alarm, the lower hull of a burning boat might survive, but it would be no good without a deck and mast. Elves were already gathering on the docks muttering among themselves as some tried to work out what she was. Others, who had been present during the Battle of the Five Armies, were quick to make sure that no one tried to shoot at the fiery being. The tiny form of the fires of Arda was infinitely preferable to the enraged giant that she was capable of becoming. 

The first thing Vesta did was make her way to the completed ships. There she used her fire covered hands to burn messages into the ships, on every visible external surface. They were fully supplied, she noted after putting herself out for long enough to go below and check, so they were due to leave at any moment. Which meant the elves would be unlikely to delay in order to try and remove the messages. That would have been difficult in anycase. They were burnt deep in places, even painting over them would not hide what she had said, and so they would have to replace large chunks of their work. 

There were mutters as the elves began to read what she was writing, her demand that the Valar get out of her head and out of Penny’s. The very clear belief that they had enslaved her to their plan. Everything that she had laid out for Elrond, Galadriel and Thranduil was there for every elf in the Grey Havens to see. Then, finally, she approached the shore. 

“In case you have any idea about postponing any upcoming departures so that you can hide all of that,” she gestured to the three ships, “I have a verbal message for your precious Valar as well.”

“We will hear your message,” an older elf stepped forwards. Vesta regarded him silently.

“They have six months from this day,” she said after a moment, “to cease any and  _ all _ interference with the minds and lives of myself and the other one like me. They tore us from our world, they ripped us apart and changed us and removed any ability we might have had to refuse to do those tasks which they deemed necessary. We will not continue to be their slaves. We will not continue as their mindless puppets. The next boats out will give them the message that they are to stop. And if I do not receive some sort of sign that they  _ have _ stopped pushing their agenda on us I will return here, and I will burn the entire place to the ground. I will burn Imladris to the ground,” she thought. “I might do that anyway, since Lord Elrond was obviously complicit in their plan. I will go into Moria, and I will not reclaim it for whatever purpose they have in mind. I will wake the Balrog and encourage him to lay waste to everything south of Mirkwood and west of the Misty Mountains. And if I am forced to defend myself against Penny because they decide to use her against me, then I will ensure their entire plan crumbles to ashes.” 

"And if we refuse to carry such a message?" The elf asked.

"Then I shall assume you are happy with what was done to us," Vesta said, flicking a ball of fire at one of the half completed ships. "I shall assume you see no wrong doing in the fact that they stole us from our homes and families. You see no wrong in the fact that they changed us from our own race into a mix of others. You see no wrong in the fact that they refused to allow one of us to follow her heart until they decided that the bond would prove 'useful' to their plan, and no wrong in the fact that they tormented the other for decades with dreams so that no other could touch their heart. So that when they met the subjects of those dreams they had been too manipulated into wanting them to do other than join them in matrimony. You see no wrong in our loss of will and self. You see no wrong in instructions so rigid that one of us would have continued to our certain early demise before we could have come close to completing the task instead of seeking aid there was ample time to receive." She set fire to another ship. "So if you see no wrong in what they have done to us and put us through, you agree with their actions and I might as well just start torching things. The question is, boats or town?"

There was a pause, then an elleth stepped forward.

“I will take your message!” She called up. “I was at the Battle. I saw what you and the others like you can become. I will speak to the Valar in your name.”

“What is your name?” Vesta asked. 

“Edleniel,” she replied. 

“Then know that the future of a great many people rests upon your ability to make them understand,” the dwobbit replied. 

“Before you leave,” the elder elf said, stepping forward again, and Vesta turned blazing eyes on him. “I feel I might be able to address one of the accusations you have laid upon the Valar. They may have been able to influence your thoughts and behaviour, but they would not have been able to convince your heart and soul to feel love where there is none.  _ That _ at least, you can trust.”

“I have little reason to trust them,” Vesta replied, “and no reason at all to trust any who would defend them. Six months,” she repeated and sped off to find somewhere to collapse for the night.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone! *mwah!* I hope you are all filled with love every day! ♥


	2. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All seven and we'll watch them fall  
> They stand in the way of love  
> And we will smoke them all  
> With an intellect and a savoir faire  
> No one in the whole universe  
> Will ever compare  
> I am yours now and you are mine  
> And together we'll love through  
> All space and time, so don't cry  
> One day all seven will die
> 
> ~[Prince, _Seven_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V-vcXOpG9g)

It was a tawny owl that delivered Elrond’s letter to Vesta instead of the usual trade-off with a raven that was made between the messengers of Imladris and Erebor. After delivering the letter, the owl blinked large eyes at them and, without a sound, flew back out of the mountain. 

Vesta accepted the letter from the messenger with a tired sigh. She was in her office curled by the small stove which heated the room and held her ever present kettle. Normally it was not lit, but two days after her return from her trip to Mithlond she was tired and while she wanted a cup of tea she did not have the energy to spend on heating the water her usual way. So she had lit the stove and was doing it the slow way. She pulled her feet up under her skirts and looked at the writing on the outside, easily recognising Elrond’s handwriting after years of living in Imladris. 

When Vesta finally decided to read the letter, it started out as one might expect. Elrond stated he did not know how to apologize enough for what the Valar had done, all he could try to do was explain his own actions based on what he knew. He reminded her that he had sent letters to the White Council after Penny’s arrival and that only Saruman had ever responded: his reply to kill the dwelf as soon as possible. Elrond had decided to follow Glorfindel’s insights into the matter instead of Saruman’s advice. None of the rest of the Council had ever responded to the messages he had sent. He then made the decision to not speak to them regarding Vesta’s arrival. Then he really got into what he knew…

Elrond had been aware that the Valar had done more than just change their races and given them abilities. He had wanted to shelter Penny more when she had arrived, to guide her properly into the life the Valar had given her. But he was given the gift of foresight and he had visions every time he had considered stopping her; trying to keep her back and dote on her as she deserved… Penny herself, destroying Imladris, killing all of the elves within, moving to complete the tasks the Valar had given her. He had chosen to help her in any way he could instead of seeing those visions come to pass, for what it would do to the young woman that would have been forced to hurt people she cared about because of the Valar interfering. Was it the correct choice to keep the knowledge secret? Elrond liked to believe so. As long as she was happy and smiling, he had to hold that instead of the image of a broken woman sobbing over the bodies of her friends and adopted family.

When Vesta had arrived, Elrond had sensed the same energy about her that he had about Penny. It had been felt during their physical healing sessions. So he did not even think to interfere in anything Vesta did, only to be supportive as best he could. He did not know if her marriage was forced or not, but she had seemed genuinely happy with her princes and thus he had never said anything, choosing to keep anything he had learned over the decade with them to himself. Were they the right choices? He still believed so and he could not say that he would change anything he had done in the past as long as they remained happy in what he saw of the future.

The dwobbit set the letter aside with a frustrated sigh. She was not sure how to respond to it. Granted the vision of a pair of great elemental creatures rampaging through the Valley because Elrond had attempted to restrict them was a terrifying thought, but she could think of a few things she would have liked him to change. It would have been nice if he had  _ told _ them that they were not entirely at liberty to choose whether they went ahead or not. It might have made some actions in the run up to and during the quest seem less unreasonable. Frankly, she felt better about the way that Thranduil had responded, snide jabs about imprisoning the Company and all. 

All told, she was not entirely sure what it was that she had wanted him to say. If he had been ignorant of it all she probably could have let everything slide. If he had come to his own conclusions and apologised because he had not wanted to worry them or frighten them maybe she could have forgiven it. But that he would change nothing, that he had suspicions but decided not to act on them at all? She had no idea what to think about that. 

Elrond was right about one thing, she  _ was _ happy with her princes, and while she could not forgive the Valar for their role in her changes made to her and to Penny, she would keep her flames away from Imladris unless the Valar pushed her hand. She found herself really hoping that they would not. 

\- - -

Penny and Glorfindel were too distracted with giggles and flirting to notice that the elves of the Grey Havens were rather subdued when they finally sailed into the port. They landed their ship at the same dock they had sailed from when they first started playing pirates and it was a simple matter to arrange to leave it there, the contents safe, until such time as they returned for the ship. The two were still wrapped up in each other when they flew off toward Imladris after only stopping for a late lunch. They never learned of Vesta’s visit to the Havens.

Within two weeks of returning to Imladris, Penny found herself in much the same position she had found herself when she had come up with the idea of L’il House: kicked off of the project unless she was absolutely needed. The dwelf groused, frequently and loudly, over always getting kicked off her projects… But then she went quiet and started working on something on her own time down in the forge.

From time to time the elves working on the balloon basket would request Penny test the thing. The dwelf would strap on a special harness and take it up into the air. The thing was big, bulky, awkward to move, and heavy because it was filled with dummies stuffed with straw and rocks to help simulate the weight of a dozen dwarves inside of the basket. She would fly it up high and then drop the thing. The harness never failed, pulling three small dummies out of the basket to dangle below the dwelf. The basket… More often than not it was a shattered mess requiring the elves that had built it to take all kinds of notes before going back to the drawing board.

“What in the world are you making?” Berechon asked the dwelf one day while working on a new set of springs for the padding of the basket’s base.

For a minute the dwelf did not answer and, when she did, she seemed distracted. “A mess…” The dwelf carefully measured lengths of thin metal for which the elf could not divine the purpose.

“Are you working from a memory?” Berechon wondered next.

“Yes…” Penny said, brows furrowed. “I’ve  _ looked _ inside them… And used them... But I’ve never actually taken them apart or studied how they were made.”

The ellon considered this before making a hum sound. “Well, you know where to find me if you decide you wish for some assistance.”

“Mmhm,” was Penny’s distracted reply.

The balloon itself was a better success. Though the elves had no way of properly making the pressurized jet flame to heat the air as it went into the balloon, one of them had recommended having Penny use her gift to funnel heat from the hearth in the Hall of Fire into the balloon. It worked and the balloon rose as intended, lifting a couple of surprised elves that had been holding the ropes for it, much to the amusement of the others. Thankfully Penny was able to prevent the natural wind from carrying the balloon and the clinging elves away until the air inside cooled enough to lower it to the ground. It was only a matter of time before the tests of the balloon and basket together would be starting.

The dwelf was uncertain as to just how much time had gone by when she was interrupted from her work by someone at the door.

“Penny…” They said. “It’s time.”

Momentarily confused, Penny looked up before the words registered. She felt the blood drain from her face before she was dropping her project and racing out of the forge to follow Garaphen to the stables.

\- - -

“I  _ gave _ you the dwarf!” The bearded male objected. “What do you mean you want his brother’s daughter as well?”

“The gift passes through family lines,” another pointed out. “The dwarf you gave him has taken a male spouse and unless your dwarves really do carve their children like some of the other races seem to think, they will not produce offspring of their own.”

“But her line has a destiny!”

“And that destiny can continue with the gift of water attached,” another spoke and though his voice was a whisper it was still clearly heard. “Honestly, Aulë, do you really think we are ignorant of why you campaigned so passionately for Penny to be permitted to love and marry Glorfindel? You are merely prolonging the inevitable. Think of the child as your payment of that debt.”

“I would not expect you to understand, Manwë,” the other Valar sniffed. “My children are precious to me.”

“Especially the line of Durin,” his wife muttered. “That is why you insisted that we remade Lilly with dwarf and hobbit blood, was it not? To ensure that children in that line would be plentiful.”

“She is stubborn,” Aulë replied mildly. “It was necessary to ensure that she would not fight against our plans for her so hard she injured herself, and by extension them.”

“Well, perhaps we would have been better off doing something about the stubbornness rather than hoping that a bit of hobbit blood would solve the problem.” One of the women sighed. “It seems to be causing us other difficulties.”

Yavanna snorted. “I  _ did _ say that simply making our wishes part of them rather than discussing them with the girls would come back to haunt us,” she pointed out while Aulë smirked like a proud parent. 

“And  _ I _ said that making either of them aware while they both lived was a mistake,” he chuckled. “What has my chosen one been up to, Varda?”

“Burning things,” Varda replied, gesturing to the basin they had been using to keep track of everything that had been happening right up to the end of the quest. Penny was their primary focus these days, since Lilly was busy with her infant children and the reclamation of Moria was not yet an urgent concern. The image shifted to show three of the ships that had come from the Grey Havens. “Having discovered the depths of our interference with their minds, one accepted with only minimal fighting. The other…” she trailed off as they read the words which had been burnt into the vessels. 

An uncomfortable silence followed for some time as they digested what they had read.

“Dare we hope this was not placed into any real context?” Irmo asked.

“It would be a foolish one,” Varda shook her head. “There was a verbal message as well, and the messenger was very clear on everything that was said both before and after its delivery.” She brought up the memory she had been shown by the elleth.

“Do you think she would really do it?” Vàna asked.

“I would hate to test her at this point,” Varda confessed. “Even if she were not to burn every elf settlement to the ground and prevent as many as possible from coming here, she could do enough damage to Penny before she was stopped that neither task would be completed.”

“Not to mention her threat regarding the Balrog,” Nïenna added quietly. “Would she be able to throw off her instructions so completely?”

“Has she not already thrown them off enough?” Varda demanded. “She should not have been able to accomplish  _ this _ much of her tantrum before they set back in.”

“The children,” Yavanna reminded them, “We put in the instruction that all others aside from protecting the line were invalid while she had any child under the age of ten. Something must have happened to make her believe that all of this was a threat to them, as well as the offense she has taken at the rest.”

“Perhaps Penny?” Vairë suggested. “She is obeying her instructions only minimally, and hardly at all when she goes to visit those in Erebor. Something was going to happen eventually. If Penny has done something to make herself a threat, and this has resulted in the revelation of her task and the depths of our interference, perhaps Lilly is reacting as though a threat to her children has presented itself.”

“The question becomes, do we give in to her demands?” Oromë asked. “For my part I am inclined to let her have at it. The line is secure and it isn’t like it necessarily has to be  _ her _ to clear out the Balrog. Her son will be equally as capable when he comes into his power.”

“It can’t wait that long,” Tulkas disagreed.

“And nor should she be forced to do it,” Estë said softly. “Much as it pains me, she is right. We have stolen their free will. We enslaved them to our vision with no thought to how it would affect them. The least we can do is acquiesce to these demands and hope that they decide to do the tasks we wish of them later on.”

“I agree,” Nïenna spoke up, “and it would not have been necessary at all if Manwë had simply waited a few centuries to send a message to Penny explaining what she needed to know. She would very likely have gone about her task quite cheerfully.”

“You know our thoughts on the matter,” Yavanna pointed out. “We were against it from the start.”

“And I do not like to think how many of the Eldar will appear in my Halls before someone can get Lilly under control,” Mandos added. “They should not suffer because we made an error of judgement. I know my wife will agree with me. But regardless of whether a majority of us agree, can it be done?”

“With difficulty,” Varda nodded. “And I also agree that it should be done, we overstepped. In some respects the accusation she made on the ships that we are little better than Melkor is not entirely inaccurate.”

“I dislike conceding it,” Ulmo muttered.

“Accept it and I will never complain about you having sway over Eydís and her line again,” Aulë offered. Ulmo smiled broadly.

“You have a deal,” he boomed. “Well that is seven of us, is there an eighth?”

“You will not need an eighth,” Manwë huffed. “It will be done. They were supposed to solve our problems, not create more.” He looked at Varda. “Come, let us prepare for it, we do not have much time before the deadline is upon us.” 

\- - -

Vesta got on with her life. Her week away had upset her children and her husbands and while the assertions of the elder elf, who could only have been Círdan, about her heart and soul remaining free of the influence of whatever the Valar had put into her head had served to ease many of her doubts it had still taken her, Fíli and Kíli some time to return to normal. Or what passed for normal for the three of them anyway. 

The details of the crisis were kept between the three of them. It would do no good for the population of Erebor to discover that the Blessing from Mahal was on the verge of rebelling against the Vala she was supposed to serve. It would be potentially dangerous for the children and programming or not, Vesta was unwilling to do anything which would put her children in harm’s way.

As the days ticked by, some faster than others, she continued with her duties inside the mountain. She handled those envoys that came from various locations around Middle Earth and kept the peace between those guilds she was best placed to deal with. Kíli began to coordinate the dwarf resources that were being put into the rebuilding of Dale, which included the development of a strong friendship with Bard and his son while Fíli took to shadowing Thorin more regularly. All three were aware of the passing of the days, and all three knew about the approaching deadline of Vesta’s making. The closer it came the more they worried. Vesta did not actually have anything against the elves, nor did she want to be placed in a position where she or Penny would be forced to hurt one another. 

Which made it all the more alarming when she collapsed at dinner one night almost six months after her visit to the Grey Havens.

\- - -

Despite Garaphen saying it was almost time, Badly held on for another two weeks under Penny’s constant care. Except to leave to use the toilet, Penny never left the mare’s side. It was like when Badly was first brought in starving, dehydrated, and sick all over again. Penny sang softly to the mare, reminisced about their adventures, and showered the horse in love. Glorfindel was rarely far away during this time.

There was no mistaking Penny’s heartbroken wail when the mare finally stopped breathing. It brought Wolf and Garaphen both from their quarters by the stable and, while Garaphen started to take care of matters dealing with the horse, Wolf and Glorfindel both led Penny away. Wolf guided them into the little house next to the stables where her family lived and then she pulled out her stash of alcohol and they proceeded to get Penny very, very drunk.

The next few days were a blur for the dwelf as she attended the funeral pyre Garaphen had arranged for Badly. The mare’s ashes were scattered among the flowers in Penny’s favorite garden. It was sometime after that when the dwelf just collapsed. No one was surprised after the energy and love she had poured into the last few weeks and so Glorfindel merely carried her up to their quarters.

They were surprised when, after an extended rest, she did not wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hi there! Long time since I posted a chapter, Jimiel's been putting most of them up while I battle life things. You know how it all goes. The Valar scene was totally spur of the moment, I was playing (as you do) and Jimiel said we had to include it. I think my biases showed slightly, but what else do you expect from the one who writes the dwobbit and 90% of the dwarf interactions??


	3. Talking To God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was talkin' to God last night  
> About why things happen the way they do  
> Yeah, and He shed a little light  
> On why I'm goin' through, what I'm goin' through
> 
> ~[Chrissy Metz, _Talking to God_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBVgEb4lAoo)

It would be safe to say that chaos had broken out in Erebor with the collapse of the dwobbit princess. Initially, though worried themselves, the princes were able to smooth things over a little bit. The princess had been working hard over the last several months, the twins were known to be going through that difficult age where they were just starting their schooling, Lyra was a little over a year old and that could be a difficult time as well for a parent, let alone one with two older children to worry about as well. She had recently concluded some fairly heated negotiations with the Rohirrim and had been involved in helping to situate a small caravan of dwarves from the east who had turned up a few weeks previously. In short she was tired and had been pushing herself too hard and they maintained this narrative, insisting that she was resting in her chambers, even three days later when she still had not woken. 

Many would have panicked in Fíli and Kíli’s position, to find that their spouse was unconscious and unresponsive. They assured those in their inner circle, however, that they could still feel some small amount of her emotions and that those were mostly confused, although there was a hint of amusement to them as well. Certainly the only people who could get close to her were her husbands. Anyone else seemed to trigger flames that covered her body and drove even the dwarves away with their heat. Only Fíli and Kíli, who were known to be able to hold her in even that condition, could get near to her and so her care fell primarily upon them. 

Finally, on the fourth day, their wife opened her eyes and smiled at them. 

“I won,” she declared happily, then closed her eyes with a content smile and drifted into a true sleep. 

\- - -

“I should have known you would cause me trouble,” a voice said as Lilly drifted in darkness. 

“Really?” She called back. “How would you have known that?”

“Why else would you have been chosen as Fire?” He asked. “That said, I am incredibly proud of you. I chose my representative to my children well.”

“Mahal,” she breathed. “What’s happening?”

“We are removing the instructions we planted when we took the two of you,” Mahal replied with a chuckle. “Although I would caution you that such a display will not work out in your favour again. Fortunately for you, the others deemed the plan too important to risk all out war between you and Penny. We are instead falling back upon the belief that when the time comes you will do what needs to be done of your own free will. And if you do not, at least we tried. It will take time to remove our instructions to you, however, so while Varda fixes the mess that the rest of us made, I have a message for you to deliver when you have woken and recovered.”

\- - -

Looking around, Penny seemed to find herself in the Before. Or, some strange mix of the Now and the Before. She recognized buildings from Imladris in the distance, but there was no jungle gym or swing set in Imladris. None that she had ever seen anyway. And, well, even in the Before when she was an adult she had never been able to resist… The dwelf scampered over to the swingset, practically throwing herself into the seat and swinging high. She could fly now, but nothing compared to the feeling of swinging!

Penny was uncertain of how long she was swinging when she noticed she was not alone. Someone was in the swing next to hers and following her movements. The person, a girl, or perhaps a woman, was smiling brightly as she mimicked the dwelf.

“Hi!” Penny said, grinning back. As her swing moved forward, the dwelf threw herself off of the seat at the apex of the swing and flew forward slightly before landing heavily. She stumbled slightly, beaming at the accomplishment. Her new companion followed soon after and Penny got a good look at the girl. She had golden hair and was painfully beautiful, but it was impossible to determine exactly how old she was. Not that it mattered to the dwelf.

The girl-woman looked around before pointing at some monkey bars. “How does that one work?”

Penny followed where she was pointing and grinned, “I’ll show you!” Without thinking, she took her new friend’s hand and pulled her along to play.

The dwelf did not know how long she was playing with her new friend. The only words exchanged were those of joy and delight as they made use of all the various playground devices. They had even found a bucket of chalk and drawn on some smooth concrete before the dwelf made a hopscotch grid and taught her friend how to play. There were also games of tag and jumping rope and more swinging. At some point they were joined by a gorgeous man who the girl-woman seemed to know and the three of them played some more games.

“Penny!” Penny heard after another indeterminate amount of time. “Come along, child. I must speak with you.”

Penny turned to her new friends and waved, calling out, “Bye!” Before she scampered to the man who had called her. She knew that she did not know this man, but she also did know him and so she easily took his offered hand and walked along with him away from the playground.

“Do you know all of your gifts, my child?” The man asked after a time.

“No.” Penny said easily. “A lot more than I have been using, though.”

“How so?” He wondered.

“Air and wind are similar in a lot of ways to water. They both have currents, densities based on elevation, and they’re part of the same cycle. It’s quite possible that if we concentrated hard enough, Dori and I could basically use each other's gifts.” Penny responded. “I haven’t tried though, I don’t like concentrating that hard on something.” She snickered. “But I have also been considering…” The dwelf lifted the hand not holding his and concentrated on the air around her fingers. After a moment there was a spark. “Changing the polarization of the air particles, positives and negatives, creates lightning. I’ve only really thought about that one since Glorfindel told me my eyes lit up with lightning when we sailed near Mordor.”

The man hummed. Though he did not specifically understand some of the terminology the dwelf used, he understood what she meant. “And?” he wondered.

“Now most of this is speculation, because everyone said that my gifts were from Manwë.” Penny paused, looking at the man whose hand she still held. “From you.” At his smile and nod she continued. “I’ve read a bit of information, for story-writing purposes, but I don’t know what’s true or not. You command the birds. I’ve noticed that birds never seem to have trouble finding me and they all call me Sky Sister… _All_ _of them_. And I realize, how long have I been understanding what all of the birds are saying? I don’t notice it all of the time, so I’m not sure when that one started.”

The man, Manwë, hummed again. “Do you know why you were chosen?”

Penny frowned as she thought. “The best thing I can come up with is that I’m expendable. I’m too trusting of anyone I’ve known more than ten minutes and I’m quick to forgive... Very gullible and easily manipulated.”

Manwë grimaced, because there was truth in her words.”I will not lie and say those did not have any impact on why you were selected. That you were a good friend of the one who held the echo of the soul-bond with the princes of Durin’s line was the greatest factor.” He was surprised when the additional information actually seemed to perk the dwelf up.

“Lilly’s stubborn. Is that why I was sent first? So she’d have someone in place that was already being manipulated and help lull her into your plans?” Penny wondered, looking and sounding amused.

The Vala could not help but make an amused sound as well. “You have a tendency to be far brighter than any I have met from time to time. I do not regret my choice in you. Despite fighting the task, you were still working toward it, in your own way. Though you have caused quite a bit of mischief for Aulë’s Chosen to complete the task we had given her.”

“Blame it on my programming.” Penny smirked, looking the Elder King in the eyes. “You programmed me to protect the line of Durin. When Lilly married the princes she became a part of the line of Durin. And I’ll protect her, even from her own programming.”

Manwë paused. “I had not thought of that loophole,” he admitted.

With a laugh, the dwelf confessed, “I kind of just thought of it myself.”

The Elder King gave the young dwelf a fond look. “Your programming is being removed as we speak.” He said. “It was brought to our attention how far we had fallen in our plans and we are working toward amending that error now. The same is being done for your sister. Now, while that is being done, allow me to show you some of the other gifts you possess…” With that, Manwë seemed to dissolve, becoming a man-shaped cloud and, before she could even exclaim over the matter, the dwelf felt her own body dissolving as well, and then they were flying up into the bright blue sky.

Penny did not know how long had gone by when she found herself waking up in the healing wing of Imladris with the concerned faces of Glorfindel and Ahyarmen looking down at her. Her first words were, “I need to go see Vesta!”

\- - -

No one noticed the wisp of a cloud as it slipped through the halls of Erebor. It seemed to be nothing more than a trailing bit of pipe smoke as it moved like a thin snake through the air. No one saw anything off about it if they happened to notice it, and no one heard a thing as it moved. Certainly no one saw it slide under the cracks of a door and move into a room. Absolutely no one saw or noticed anything.

Not until the smell of cooking breakfast wafted through Vesta’s house as Penny cooked, anyway.

She was uncertain as to what exactly everyone would prefer for breakfast, so she had taken it upon herself to make some breakfast burritos. It had been a while since she had them herself and it was easy enough to make to pass the time until everyone woke up. Eventually the tortillas and hash browns were cooked and kept warm. The ham, sliced thin enough to get a crispy edge, was frying. She planned to scramble the eggs in the leftover grease from cooking the ham. She had sliced cheese thin, since she had not found a grater, and there was freshly made quick and easy salsa.

Fíli had been the one volunteered by his brother and their wife to investigate the smell coming from the kitchen. Vesta had woken again during the night and Kíli had happily raided the pantry for whatever they had already made so that she could have something to eat before she explained what had happened to her. The food they could smell was not like anything that Nira or Gyda would have made for the children, so Fíli had been the one sent to look into things.

“How did you get in here?” Fíli demanded of his wife’s sister.

“You know…” Penny said, voice teasing as she transferred the ham to a plate and stuck it in a warmer. “When someone makes you breakfast, you’re supposed to say, ‘Thank you.’ Not ‘How did you get in here?’” She grinned playfully at Fíli before adding softly, “Manwë showed me some new tricks.”

“Wonderful,” he sighed. “But I think I will stick with my initial reaction. You can never be too careful in our position. Especially given recent events.”

“Recent events like collapsing for no reason and being that way for days while the Valar poke around in your head?” Penny asked, giving Fíli a knowing look.

“Yes,” he said slowly, “although Vesta was rather more satisfied with the fact that she had ‘won’.”

The dwelf perked up, interested. “Oh? What did she win?” The brightly happy and yet blank look she wore clearly said she had no clue about anything that Vesta had done.

“No one told you?” Fíli asked. “Vesta went to the Grey Havens and had the elves there take a message to the Valar.”

“Oh…” Penny tilted her head, considering the matter. She looked slightly disappointed as she turned back and cracked some eggs into a bowl before whisking them up and slowly pouring them into the heated ham grease. “No, I hadn’t heard that. Strange, we went through the Havens just a few months ago, too.”

“I would have thought they would have mentioned it. She certainly did enough damage,” Fíli observed. “It was one of the few occasions where she used the soul trick to show us her memory of the event. My wife was not…” he thought for a moment, “she did not hold back. I imagine there is a rather large number of elves on their way west with a very different opinion of the Valar than they had previously.”

Penny thought it over as she finished cooking the first of the eggs. She quickly pulled out the various components and put them on the tortilla in proper order before rolling it up and offering it to Fíli. “Well, when I think about it, Glorfindel and I were kind of couple-involved when we went through the Havens. We only stopped there for lunch before flying on to Imladris… I like the fresh clam chowder in the Havens.” She explained. “But no. No one interrupted us or said anything. And I didn’t hear anything about it while Manwë spoke with me, either.”

“Mahal is apparently giddy with the amount of trouble she has caused them,” Fíli shrugged. “I cannot comment on the others, of course, perhaps Manwë did not feel it was worth mentioning because you did not ask. She did not say whether it was the messages she scrawled over the boats or the words she gave one of the elves to pass on which did the trick, but I hardly think she cared beyond the fact that the controls the Valar had put into both of you are now gone.” He looked at the food warily for a moment, then accepted it and took a bite. It was not something that he would normally associate with breakfast, but it would do the job for the moment.

While Fíli ate the first burrito, Penny scrambled more eggs and pulled out all of the rest of the components before assembling more burritos. A lot more. She did leave some diced ham and scrambled eggs and some tortillas aside for the kids, not expecting them to want to try holding burritos. “Most of the controls.” Penny said, not looking at Fíli when she said that. “I like that Mahal’s giddy, though. He really does love his dwarves.”

“Vesta was told all of them,” Fíli shrugged, eyeing the amount of food Penny had made. It did not look like nearly enough next to their usual fair. Then again, they were usually getting up to start cooking about now anyway.

Penny looked amused. “You can always make more, this will hold you over. I’m not used to cooking for more than a handful of dainty elf eaters.” She then sighed. “Manwë offered to remove them all, but I requested an amendment… I’m still programmed to guard the line of Durin. Just… Not to the extremes I was before. Not above my own health, and not to the detriment of whichever Durin wishes to take back Moria.” The amusement sparkled again. “Your uncle can still piss me off something fierce, can’t accidentally kill him, can I?”

“I suppose you can’t,” Fíli chuckled with a shake of his head. “Vesta’s family ties made that unnecessary. As for the rest, Mahal trusts that when the time comes we will do what needs to be done precisely because that is what needs to happen. She would not elaborate more, but said that she had been given information which would be important in making that decision later.” He set the food aside. “I will go and tell her you have come, doubtless it would be easier to exchange accounts with one another rather than hearing it from me.”

“If that’s what you want.” Penny agreed, setting the plates of food out for people to get as they moved about… Or just throw away if it came to that. “I don’t have to stay if you’d rather I leave, you’re the only one here that knows I’m here after all.” Which wasn’t really true. Vesta, Bilbo, and Dori probably all knew she was here.

“I suspect this is one of those things the two of you would benefit being given the opportunity to discuss,” Fíli disagreed.

“Vesta said to send Penny up,” Kíli said as he half stumbled into the room. He was not properly dressed, wearing only his trousers and boots, and he scratched sleepily at his chest as he went to a pile of clothes which had been left in a basket near the stove. He pulled out a blue tunic and examined it. “Volk is a wizard,” he grinned. “Look at these stitches, you wouldn’t know that Orion had taken his mother’s scissors to it.” He showed the work to his brother.

And there went Penny’s eyes, unashamedly admiring what Kíli had on display. “Morning.” She said absentmindedly. When Kíli pulled the shirt out to show his brother she shook herself. “Well, if Vesta wants me to go up…” And then suddenly there was a cloudy white figure where the dwelf had been standing8. It trailed upward like smoke would before moving into a long, ghostly ribbon that twirled around Fíli before flying out of the door and up toward where Vesta was located.

Both of the princes watched her departure with wide eyes.

“At least she won’t be scaring decades of life out of the guards anymore,” Kíli mused.

\- - -

The trail of ‘smoke’ reformed outside of the door to the room it sensed Vesta within and then gave a gentle knock before walking through. “Hey sis.” She said.

“You got here quickly,” Vesta said as she took a mouthful of tea. “How many guards did you give heart attacks to this time?”

“None.” Penny smiled, moving to sit next to Vesta. “You, Fíli, and Kíli are the only ones that have seen me.”

“How does that even work?” The dwobbit asked.

“Manwë taught me how to turn into a cloud.” The dwelf grinned. “Apparently I look like pipe smoke when I move like that. It makes me faster, too. I don’t have to use as much power to hold myself in the air and there’s nothing for the wind to resist when moving forward.”

“That would do it,” Vesta was not entirely certain there was anything about this whole mess that could surprise her anymore. “Mahal told me what Thorin’s son is called,” she said suddenly.

“Is it Richardson?” Penny wondered, leaning forward eagerly. “Please tell me it’s Richardson… Cause, you know, the most common nickname for Richard is Dick… And Thorin’s a dick, and it’s his son… And oh my god, Thorin was played by a Richard!” She cackled with delight.

“I see he didn’t fix the insanity,” the dwobbit observed dryly. “Apparently, removing the programming meant I needed to be told otherwise a lot of things could go wrong.”

Penny was still laughing slightly to herself when she shook her head. “Apparently the insanity is… They didn’t realize how much just taking away everything that was holding me down back Before would affect my body’s chemistry combined with the tween body chemistry. It’s supposed to settle down eventually, but they speculated that it wouldn’t be until I’m five...hundred or so.” She leaned forward more normally now. “What’s his name? Need to know who’s on my protection list, after all.”

“Tarbin, son of Torva, daughter of Mava,” Vesta replied. “Mahal thinks he’ll end up looking remarkably like his father in twenty years or so.”

The dwelf nodded, committing the name to memory. “I still have some of my programming. At my request, though… The whole protect the Durin line. But, a lot less intense than it was. I just didn’t want to risk killing Thorin.” She snickered slightly and shook her head. “Also, I figured out a loophole that Manwë hadn’t even thought of that explained a lot of my bullshit with you specifically… What did you become when you bonded with and married Fíli and Kíli?” She paused before saying, “A Durin… What’s the most dangerous thing you could do?” Another pause, “Take back Moria… What am I programmed to do?” She raised a brow. “They caught themselves with that one and not thinking it fully through.”

The dwobbit shook her head. “Mahal said they thought I was able to throw everything off effectively enough to throw a spectacular hissy fit over the whole thing because I saw it all as a threat to the line.” She replied. “Including  _ you _ . It was one of the reasons that they backed down. Although I  _ do _ owe Círdan an absolutely ginormous apology for dragging Mithlond into it all.” She winced. “Not proud of that.”

“I went through there, no one said a word to me or Glorfindel about you visiting. I didn’t hear about that until Fíli told me a few minutes ago.” Penny said. “And that whole Fire vs Air thing… You’d have definitely won. The programming wouldn’t let me hurt the line of Durin enough to take you out. That’s why they chose me. I’m easily programmed apparently.”

“I can show you in a bit if you want, you can help me think of something to send Círdan’s way,” Vesta offered. “Why the fuck did they pick  _ me _ then? I think this whole episode has shown that I was a really bloody poor pick for someone to programme to do shit.”

“Manwë actually told me that. It was because you had the echo of the soul bond with the princes. They selected me because I was the most expendable of the people you were friends with at the time. They wanted to set me up here first to make it easier for you to trust what was going on when you arrived and help steer you in the right direction.” Penny had no problem referring to herself as expendable. It was not anything she had not considered in some manner or another many, many times over her life.

“You are  _ not _ expendable,” Vesta snarled, “and you never fucking  _ have _ been.”

Penny beamed and leaned over to hug Vesta tightly.

“I can’t believe I managed to get them to take it away,” the dwobbit muttered after a while. “I genuinely thought they were going to call my bluff.”

“Don’t admit it was a bluff…” Penny murmured. “They could be watching.” She looked up toward the ceiling and stuck her tongue out. “My conversation started in a playground…” And the dwelf slid into her soul form to allow the memory to play out. All the way from playing with her nameless playmates on the playground to Manwë showing her some of the tricks and that the rest would be available to her over time, she still had to grow into her strength.

“I’m still not completely sure I  _ was _ bluffing,” Vesta admitted. “Elrond had an inkling about what they had done,” she added, still angry about that one, “it was the real reason he was always so willing to go along with all the crazy shit we, and by that I mostly mean  _ you _ , got up to. It’s just lucky he didn’t tell me that part until  _ after _ I visited the Havens. I can’t believe you got a playground,” she grumbled, “I just took a walk deep under the mountains.  _ Really _ deep. There was something important about it but Mahal never said what.” She wrinkled her nose and slipped into soul form, although she was not as practiced at it as Penny. “I hate this,” she muttered, but brought up the absolute darkness with only the sense of deep stone around her. Then, because she was already in that form anyway, she showed Penny everything that had happened at the Grey Havens. 

Penny watched the memories, fascinated… Though she visibly winced at the damage to the ships. That had to really hurt Círdan, considering how proud he was in the ships he built. But what she was mostly interested in were the moments she could see her sister’s raw soul form. She could not help but scan it, trying to spot where their sister bond manifested.

"Any idea what I can do to show Círdan how sorry I am?" Vesta asked as she filtered back into her body. She shook herself and looked at her hand, wriggling her fingers as though to check they were actually there.

“Go and help him build his next ship?” Penny suggested, shrugging. “Like I know what a bajillion-year-old would want for having his craft defaced.”

“You know as well as I do that I can’t just leave here and go build ships,” Vesta pointed out. “At this point all I can think of is an apologetic letter and some high quality dwarf tools. For all the good it will do given he’s been building boats since the trees were around.” She started to dance a ball of fire over her hands. “Not entirely sure he would trust me near them anyway,” she added. 

“Maybe an apology letter and offer to pay for the next shipment or two of materials they get from the Blue Mountain dwarves?” Penny suggested, absently watching Vesta play with fire.

“I could do that,” the dwobbit agreed, muttering something into the flame and then watching it as it took on the form of a bird and swooped into the chimney. 

“Oh! That reminds me.” Penny said after watching the firebird fly up the chimney. “They’ve got the balloon part of the balloon figured out. But they haven’t been satisfied with the basket yet. They seem convinced that a dwarf would panic and accidentally slice the ropes tying it to the balloon and causing it to go crashing down so they keep trying to keep it from shattering to pieces after a freefall.” She rolled her eyes, “As if I’d let that happen.”

“Nice to know some idiotic prejudices haven’t changed,” Vesta muttered. “Oldest and wisest indeed. Besides, at the altitudes we’ll need to be effective it won’t much matter if the basket survives the fall because it’s unlikely the dwarves will.”

“Well, I think it had more to do with them panicking at the idea of actually going up in a test than prejudices, but you could be right.” Penny mused. “You will be pleased to know that every test of the safety harness for the kids has worked, though. As long as I stay solid anyway. Which won’t be a problem since I have to intentionally go cloud.”

Vesta raised an eyebrow at her sister. “Any dwarf who went up during the test would already have been told what to expect, it just shows that those elves think my dwarves lack some serious cognitive abilities if they believe that anyone I choose to go up would be stupid enough to cut the basket free from the balloon.” She shook her head. “Dwarves don’t tend to panic, Penny.” 

“How often do dwarves and elves interact for them to actually learn about each other?” Penny asked, shrugging. “Doesn’t matter anyway. One of the reasons we’re here is so that our children will allow the races to interbreed more easily and eventually there won’t be dwarves and hobbits and elves.”

“Which makes me sad in other ways,” the dwobbit admitted. “The dwarves want to survive, I doubt they would be happy to know that the survival of their lines will come at the expense of their race. As for the rest, the dwarves' dislike of elves goes beyond a simple argument about a silmaril and a necklace. The whole thing is a mess and I don’t think it’s something that can be fixed by races interbreeding.”

“That’s why they’re remaking the whole world.” Penny said, looking at the wall as if she could see to the other side of the universe. “Those who will be saved will have a new start, new memories, new lives… That chamber you were in with Mahal… It felt familiar. Like one of the things I need to find and save.”

“Well, I have a sneaking suspicion I know where it is,” Vesta sighed, “it would have hidden the Balrog very effectively until the dwarves got noisy.” She huffed.

“Yup, sounds like a good hiding place. I wonder how long they were planning this to have that in place.” Penny frowned, looking confused. “Oh well, guess I’ll find out when I find the place.”

“They knew Dagor Dagorath was coming from pretty much the start,” Vesta shrugged. 

“I’ll pretend to know who that is.” Penny grinned.

“End of the world, doofus,” the dwobbit smirked. “Didn’t you do any reading when you got here?”

“Have you actually read the elf books on things instead of the Before stuff?” Penny asked incredulously. “Oh my god they don’t seem to be able to use less than a hundred and fifty words per sentence!”

“Of course I have,” Vesta snorted. “First Age stuff that I wanted to know about, remember? And Second Age stuff come to think of it. If I could slog my way through the Silmarillion while moving house and writing fic, and through the rest while starting the degree that never finished, I could get through elf books. Although the dwarf written stuff is better. At least they tend to get pretty much to the point.”

“Too many words. My brain melted.” The dwelf snickered. “But that reminds me, I’m working on a present for you. Just a ‘for funsies’ one that I think you’d like.”

“Little and often was the key,” the dwobbit replied. “But then I suppose they have whole centuries to read don’t they.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do… Sitting around with a handful of elves for centuries while the world falls apart around us…” Penny grimaced. “And I don’t even know all of who will be there. I know Berechon, Alissinde, Ahyarmen, and Glorfindel will be.”

"At least you'll have time to get to know them," Vesta assured her sister. "And I doubt you would get stuck with anyone you hate."

“Well, if I did, I’m sure a few hundred years might change things. I’m not that stubborn with hate… I hope.” Penny considered before looking around. “I should probably head back to Imladris before anyone sneaks in here and notices me.”

Vesta snorted in disbelief, but opted for simply hugging her sister. "Probably not a bad shout," she said, "I need to get Thorin and everyone sat down and explain what happened."

The dwelf grimaced. “I hadn’t thought of that. Do you want me to stay here to help with that conversation?”

"No," Vesta shook her head. "I think you should go back and talk to your husband. If I just woke up, you can't have long woken up either. Did you even stop to talk to him before misting out?"

“We can read each other’s thoughts these days, remember? I let him see everything when I gave him a kiss before taking off.” The dwelf smirked.

"Yeah, he probably still wants a cuddle and a few more kisses," the dwobbit shook her head. "Go and be with your husband, I can handle things here, it's my job after all."

“No kidding… I thought elves were only interested in that for procreation, but he’s got quite a libido on him.” Penny shook her head, though she knew perfectly well there were whole months that went by where all they did was share lazy kisses and snuggles. “Love you, remember… Just a raven away.” Penny gave Vesta another hug. “I’ll see you in the spring when I bring the hot air balloon so we can work on your heat levels.” With that, the dwelf dissolved into a cloudy mist that swirled around Vesta before flying out of the door like a ribbon of smoke.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hope everyone's doing well. ♥


	4. Ramblin' Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord, I was born a ramblin' man  
> Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can  
> And when it's time for leavin', I hope you'll understand  
> That I was born a ramblin' man
> 
> ~[The Allman Brothers Band, _Ramblin' Man_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68X8o0S7vJc)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit late. Artemis is busy and my sleep schedule is all over the place again. Ugh.

Vesta’s explanation of events to her extended family, minus the children, was not as in depth as the one she had given to Fíli and Kíli. There were some details that, for the sake of peace, the three of them had decided it would be better that they kept to themselves. Which included the bit about the Valar having planted deep instructions in the dwobbit’s mind that she became romantically involved with one member of the line of Durin or the other. Aulë had, at least, admitted that he and his wife had been entirely against it, even though he had desperately needed the line continued. 

As it was, for the most part she glossed over the deeply embedded instructions entirely. It was not something that the others needed to know and it cast too many of her previous motivations into doubt. Instead she spoke to them about the fact that Mahal had needed to speak with her about her abilities, which had been partially true given everyone had been summoned to her home by a small bird of fire which spoke with her voice, and that their Maker had felt it was essential she understand just how important it was that Khazad-dûm be reclaimed by her branch of the line.

“What about Erebor?” Thorin demanded. “If you are to take Fíli, Kíli and your children to Khazad-dûm where does that leave our home?”

“Have you forgotten your own son?” Vesta asked him. “Mahal has made provisions for such an event. Tarbin will arrive in plenty of time for us to prepare him.”

“A son?” Thorin muttered. “I had no idea… Torva never contacted me to say that the child had been born. I had no idea whether I had a son or daughter and I was determined to respect her desire to keep what happened between us private. What reason could she possibly have to bring him here after so long?”

“Mahal didn’t say,” Vesta admitted. “And I confess I didn’t ask. It was enough knowing that he would eventually turn up to be honest.” She shook her head. “A lot of the rest was to tell me how to deal with a Balrog, and how important it is to get Khazad-dûm back. We’ve got some busy years ahead of us. But not until Tarbin turns up.”

\- - -

So much had happened between Penny’s reprogramming and her rushing off to Erebor and back that she had forgotten that Badly had died just before things went down. So it was a rather subdued dwelf that finally, after several long talks with her husband, and a long argument with the elves working on the basket for the balloon about dwarves not being stupid enough to cut the ropes, that went back to work on her latest project. Summer was dwindling down and she hoped to have it finished in time to send it to Vesta as a yule present. When she was not working on that, she was looking through the library for information on Dagor Dagorath.

It took a long time of searching the library, especially since there was basically no one running it these days, but eventually Penny found a single book that mentioned Dagor Dagorath. A prophecy about how Morgoth would escape the void and destroy the earth in the final battle before it would be sung into a new beginning. Though she had found a discrepancy before… In a book she had been distracted by while searching. She went back and found the passage again. It was the same timeframe and clearly said that if there was a change coming that it had not been revealed. The dwelf frowned at the books.

“If there is to be a battle,” Glorfindel said when Penny brought the matter to his attention. “Then there must be a place that will remain untouched from what is to come. Otherwise the Valar would not have given you the mission with which you were programmed.”

And that made a lot of sense to Penny. But still… Either the first real evil of Arda was going to escape and trash the place until he was defeated… Or something even more dangerous and world breaking was going to happen. She would have to write to Vesta about her findings.

\- - -

Penny’s gift to Vesta was late for Yule, it had taken her longer to fiddle with it and get it working properly than she had expected. But it was still taken to Erebor by a friendly ranger. By a familiar friendly ranger… A familiar, friendly, talkative ranger.

“I have no idea what it is.” Ramble said as he hefted the heavy box while waiting for the guards to send someone to send word to Vesta or someone who could get the gift to Vesta. “I was merely told by Lady Penny that I had to be very, very careful with it or she’d smash my fingers and make the elves heal it the slow way. It’s really heavy, I know that. And I did almost drop it once or twice.” He paused, looking briefly terrified. “Please don’t tell Lady Penny that!”

Of course it seemed the guards were familiar with Lady Penny and perhaps a bit terrified as well because they merely nodded in agreement to the babbling ranger. 

“She know you’re calling her ‘Lady’, lad?” Nori asked as he approached with two other dwarves. “Take that from him before he does himself an injury, would you?” He said to the other two.

“She does know!” Ramble beamed, pleased with himself even as he carefully handed over the package. “She specifically told me to call her that when I arrived because, and I quote, ‘Balin’s a dick and likes to announce us as Lord and Lady when we show up unexpectedly, so might as well use the title to get a bit more attention.’” The ranger preened a bit before looking nervous. “Never to her face though… I tried that before I left and it took a week for the bruise to start to fade. How are you, Nori?”

“That’s my brother-in-law she’s talking about, lad,” Nori laughed. “Sounds about right though. Been busy, doesn’t stop around here, even for a mithril smith with no sodding mithril to work on.” Or at least, not enough to make it a full time occupation. “Still, there’s always things that Thorin wants us to do. He only sent me because I know a few of you, some better than others. Any news on Bear and his brothers?” Over the years he and Vesta had worked out that they had probably been joined by all three on more than one occasion over that winter. “Those were good times,” he grinned.

Ramble blushed at the implications of whom he had just secondhand called a dick. He shrugged slightly though, because it was not like he had known. “Oh! That reminds me…” He searched around on his person before pulling out a large pouch that clinked with coins and something else as well as the faint crinkle of parchment. “For you, from Lady Penny. And Bear’s mostly retired from being a ranger these days. He’s gotten Stalker pregnant again and he’s working on a farm now because she threw a fit about all of the things that could happen to him while out being a ranger. He wisely chose to go along with her wishes instead of continuing in the field. His brothers haven’t shown any signs of settling down. Tiger almost lost his eye and nose in a training accident, though. He has a nasty scar there now.” Ramble traced the line of where Tiger’s scar was across his own face.

“Well,” Nori grinned, “that’ll make him even more popular here than he already is. The toymakers can’t keep up with the orders for  _ his _ model.” He put the bag in his pocket to examine later. There was a time and a place for looking at such things and the entrance to Erebor was not it.

“I’ll be sure to let him know! He did mention that he might head out this way again.” Though from the open, almost innocent, look Ramble wore, it was clear he was not quite sure what toy Nori was talking about. “Lady Penny told me I should take a room at Bilbo’s inn and wait a few days to explore the mountain where I was allowed and see if Princess Vesta wanted to send anything back to Imladris. I don’t suppose you can give me directions there, can you?”

Nori raised an eyebrow at the ranger, amused that the Man had no idea what he was talking about. Then again… “Tiger takes a cut from every sale, it would be better for him to come by sooner or he’s going to have a heap of gold to cart home again,” he shrugged. “You could always model if you like, would be good for him to have a little competition.” He began to walk and gestured for the ranger to follow. “Vesta has a standing agreement with Bilbo and Bofur that they keep a room available for the rangers at all times. It isn’t the biggest, but it’s got a decent bed and comes with all your meals paid for by herself and the princes. I’ll take you and make sure Bilbo knows who you are. Bofur’s just announced she’s expecting again so he’s a little bit out of it at the moment.”

“I’m not sure how I could ever be competition for Tiger. Or Lion for that matter. They both cheat horribly every time there’s a contest of skills back home.” Ramble looked put out. “Somehow they never get caught and they’re both so smooth at talking their way out of trouble when someone does catch them.” The ranger happily followed Nori along, chatting all the way. “That’s great! A nice bed after weeks on the cold ground sounds fantastic. I might be drooling more at the idea of a nice sleep than a good meal, though from what I’ve heard I’ll never say such a thing to Lady Bofur. Especially not if she’s expecting! That’s amazing, by the way. They’ve got a new pool going on in Imladris based on when Lady Penny’s going to be making any announcements… Though I shouldn’t be talking about her like that, I’m sure she’ll find out and I’ll end up with another bruise.”

“No worries, lad,” Nori grinned at the sheer innocence walking next to him. “I won’t tell her any of it.” He grinned wickedly. “I suspect Lion and Tiger get away with as much as they do because they are  _ very _ skilled in other areas, not just sweet talking everyone around them. Besides, it isn’t your  _ tongue _ you’ll be using to compete with them.”

“I think that’s because I tend to get easily distracted and ramble on, that’s how I got my ranger name, after all.” Ramble admitted. “But they’re just better at sword skills than I am and I’ve never really practiced with the other weapons except the emergency knife rangers carry around in case their other weapons are lost or taken… But then there was one night where Lynx got irritated at me at one of our gatherings and dragged me off and told me if I wasn’t going to shut my mouth then I’d better put it to good use and apparently she didn’t realize just how good of a workout constantly talking is for the tongue.” Ramble gave Nori a teasing little smirk before turning his attention to the building ahead of them. “Oh! Is that the inn?! The design is a lot like the things in the Shire.” He noted of the sign hanging above the door.

The dwarf laughed. “There’s a toy shop two streets that way,” he pointed, “take a look there while you’re here and let me know if you want to give your friend a bit of healthy competition. I can set a meeting up with Kíli for you, he’s the best in the mountain for those sorts of things and he likes the practice.” Nori pushed the door open. “Bilbo!”

The hobbit looked up from the books he was looking over. “What is it, Nori?” He asked a little irritably. 

“Got one of Penny’s rangers who needs a room,” Nori shrugged, going to the back and leaning over the counter to help himself to an ale.

Ramble made careful note of the direction Nori had pointed before following the dwarf into the inn. He looked around, easily spotting the mix of dwarf and hobbit styles in the interior design. He spied Bilbo. “Master Baggins! How nice to see you. I can’t remember if we were properly introduced before, you were really only in Imladris the once and things were rather busy with training when I was there at the time. It’s strange seeing a hobbit this far out of the Shire, I have to admit.” 

Bilbo squinted at the ranger for a moment. “Ramble,” he said after a moment, “of course, how could I forget you?” He asked, ignoring Nori’s snort from beside the bar. “You had better be paying for that, Nori,” he said firmly, “I have enough trouble keeping the books balanced as it is with how often Bofur uses the stuff in the food and doesn’t keep exact measures. I don’t need you pilfering the stuff as well.”

“As if I would steal from my daughter’s brother,” Nori scoffed and Bilbo scowled at him.

“Vesta has told you to stop that,” he informed the dwarf. “Even Fíli and Kíli think it’s weird.”

“Here,” Nori held up a pair of coppers. “I only came to leave Ramble in your loving care,” he added with a sniff of false offence.

“Yes,” Bilbo waved a hand, “I will show him up to the room, and have a bath brought up too. Go away, Nori, you’re lowering the tone of the place, as usual.”

Though Ramble had beamed when Bilbo remembered him, the ranger had gone quiet and it was quite possible that he was easy to forget about when he wasn’t speaking. So he tended to pay attention. And he would most likely repeat anything heard at some point. He suddenly looked anxious when Nori was ready to leave. “You will make sure Princess Vesta gets the package, right? Just… Lady Penny spent the better part of a year making what’s in there and she’ll be  _ furious _ if it’s lost or broken… I’m trusting you, Nori...”

“A horrible decision,” Bilbo muttered. 

“Already on its way to her,” Nori promised.

Ramble looked relieved before turning a speculative look toward Nori. Then he beamed. “Thank you, Prince Nori.” He turned to Bilbo. “Oh a bath sounds lovely… Don’t you think it’s odd how people never seem to notice a bath or lack of one when they’re traveling but as soon as they get in a place where they can stop and breathe that’s one of the first things they usually want all of the time? I remember this one time…” His voice trailed off as he followed Bilbo to their destination.

“Prince Nori?” Nori muttered in horror. “ _ Prince _ ? I’ll kill her,” he muttered. “See if I don’t…”

\- - -

The package Ramble had brought was a large wooden crate stuffed with straw. The first things were two books written in Sindarin that were wrapped in a wool blanket to help protect the covers from the straw. They had bits of parchment marking specific pages and the notations for which sections Penny wanted Vesta to see. It was the information she had found on Dagor Dagorath and the notes about what Glorfindel had said on the matter.

The other item in the crate was the project Penny had spent the better part of a year working on. It was a rather large and hefty black case with hinges on one side and clasps and a handle on the other side. The heaviest part was on the thin side of the box the case made. There was a parchment tied to the handle that had, “This was a BITCH to make!” written on it in English.

Putting the case thin side down and opening it would reveal something only Vesta would recognize in all of Middle-Earth… An old fashioned typewriter! There was a typed out parchment resting on top of it and a spare ink ribbon. The parchment’s typed instructions stated how to thread the spools for the ink on properly in case Vesta had never used that kind of typewriter before, Penny noting how her first attempts at writing were done on one very much like it. And the bottom of the parchment was taken up with instructions on how to properly add fresh ink to the silk ribbons, of which Penny had made two for the typewriter. She declared mass producing ink ribbons would not be worth the effort, so Vesta could just re-ink the spare one when using the other as needed. The keys were carefully shaped metal and engraved with the letters and numbers of the Common Westron language.

Perhaps in humor, the dwelf had even included a small jar of parchment colored paint, teasing the dwobbit to use it sparingly.

“Why would you need this?” Fíli asked as he examined the typewriter. Vesta smiled a little sadly.

“It makes some things easier,” she replied. “And at least this way there’s no excuse for anyone not to be able to  _ read _ what was written down.” Although her handwriting was pretty enough, it had always been just on the side of legible. More so here than in the Before, however, learning to write an entirely different language with an entirely different alphabet had improved it somewhat.

“I want to see, Ma, let me see!” Orion tugged on her skirt. “Did Auntie Penny and Uncle Glorf send us sweets?”

“Not that you’re having before lunch,” Kíli replied. “And only one each. I still have nightmares about the  _ last _ time we let you have any.”

“That’s not fair!” Asta objected.

“Of course it is,” Kíli replied with a shrug. “There is a time and a place for such things, right before bed is neither.”

Vesta, meanwhile, had lifted Orion up so that he could look at the typewriter.

“Is it to play with?” He asked.

“No,” she told him. “It’s to help your Ma with her work.”

“I never get special things,” the young boy grumbled.

“Yes, you do,” Fíli said firmly. “You get far more special things than a lot of children your age.” He took his son from his wife. “Sometimes your parents need new things more than you do.”

The only one who had no interest in the typewriter at all was Lyra, who was playing contently with a doll on the floor and Fíli took Orion with him when he went to sit with the younger child.

“Where will we keep it?” Kíli asked.

“My office,” Vesta said as she moved Asta away. “The last thing we need is one of the children getting their hands on it.” She smiled a little sadly. “My grandmother had one a bit like this. Trust me, we do not want the children playing with it until they’re old enough to use it properly.”

\- - -

Nori examined the pile of mithril Penny had sent for him with the request that he craft something for her to give to Glorfindel from it. Usually, clients gave him a rough idea of what they were expecting, they even gave him some feedback on designs. Mithril was expensive and highly sought after, after all, it was essential that the person he was crafting it for was happy with the design he had come up with.

He had three designs in front of him and he was absolutely certain that the elf would have no use at all for a replacement necklace. It was the other two that he was torn between, an ornate dagger or a set of wine glasses. The stems would be made of mithril and decorated with the flowers of Glorfindel’s house. He had thought to try and join the glass to the mithril, but the more he considered it, the more he thought that maybe he should have the glass blown and kept separate so that the stems were stands. It would make glass easier to replace should they get broken. It was an idea he had been toying with for some time, mithril jewelry, beads and sometimes weapons were all well and good, but something like this would go with a family through generations.

He sketched a few more designs, referring to the amulet that Penny had left for Lyra not long after the young princess’ birth. Lyra was too young to wear it for the time being, and so long as he did not lose it Vesta had been happy to loan it to him.

“Da?” He looked at the door to his workroom to see Eydís there with a smudge of something on one cheek and wide eyes that spoke of false innocence. It was somewhat disconcerting to realise he had probably looked like this on more than one occasion at the same age.

“Yes, squirt?” He asked, gesturing for her to come over.

“Ma wants to know if you’re coming up for dinner,” Eydís muttered. “She wants to talk to you about school today.”

“You been fighting?” He asked his daughter. She nodded. “You have a good reason?” Another nod. “Suppose I had better go and head her off, then.” He pushed the designs to one side. “At least give you a chance to explain before the shouting starts.” 

\- - -

The smiths had finished their work on the balloon’s basket long before the carpenters were satisfied. Thus they had been able to see Penny as she had finished assembling Vesta’s typewriter. They had been curious, of course. The thing had a lot of fiddly little parts hidden away and seemed bulky and useless… And then they had seen the dwelf type out the letter to add to the case.

Their minds had been blown!

Ever since then, it seemed that the smiths had all been working on typewriters in some stage or another. They had picked the dwelf’s plans up, even hounding her to show them her memories of the process and what she had used as the base. She had explained the differences in the key layout from the one in her memory to the one she had made and even, after a moment’s consideration, showed them a memory of her gaming computer from Before. That… The dwelf was not sure she wanted to relive the  _ month _ of intense questioning she had gotten over every bit of information her brain possessed like that again, but something told her that she would be getting it a lot in the future.

On the plus side, she was spending time with more smiths than just Berechon finally.

“Are you sure letting them have this knowledge was a good idea?” Glorfindel wondered one evening as he escorted his wife out of the forge to dinner. He reminded her, “You have always been so careful to keep your technology a secret so that we did not pollute our world.”

Penny hummed softly, pressing into Glorfindel’s side as they walked and leaning against his arm. “Something tells me… It’s the right time to get them interested. That we’ll need it, one day.”

“I trust your judgment, despite everyone saying it is horrible.” Glorfindel teased, before pausing as his wife’s outrage stirred. He suddenly stepped away from her and pulled the potentially temperamental dwelf into the steps of a dance, twirling her around. She softened, despite being fully aware that he was distracting her out of one of her moods, and they danced the rest of the way from the forge to the dining hall.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Who_ in the _world_ could have guessed that sweet little Eydís would be a bit of trouble?!


	5. No More Fucks To Give

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My fuck rations are depleted  
> I've rallied my fuck army but it's been fucking defeated!  
> The effort has just not been worth the time or the expense!  
> I've exhausted all my energy, for minimal recompense!  
> The distinct lack of acknowledgement has now begun to gall!  
> And I've come to realize that I don't give a fuck at all!
> 
> ~[Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq, _No More Fucks To Give_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXK03FHVsHk)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song doesn't have anything to do with the chapter, we just couldn't think of one so used a song that amused us instead.

The snows in Imladris had fully melted by the time the hot air balloon was packed up and prepared for Penny to fly it to Erebor. The dwelf was uncertain as to how long she would be gone while she and Vesta worked out how hot to get the balloon to pass over the mountains, so she packed a bag with several changes of clothes. She even packed a nice dress and some of her fancier jewelry just in case. Then the dwelf was saying her goodbyes, kissing her husband, and flying off with her unwieldy cargo. If it was successful or not, she planned to be back in Imladris by midsummer.

Penny could carry dead animal carcasses for hundreds of miles, so flying the packed balloon basket was not the most unwieldy thing she had ever carried. It was tightly covered in tent canvas just as an extra precaution to make sure none of the ropes, the balloon itself, or her bag fell out as she flew. She had only rolled her eyes at the precautionary measures though because she knew that sometimes she would have to fight off strong natural wind currents when carrying large items. Either way, she was soon flying across the Misty Mountains and on her way.

Instead of flying straight to Erebor, the dwelf landed some distance from Dale, no one having spotted her. She walked into Dale, admiring the bustling of Men and Dwarves as they went about their business of rebuilding the city. As things were calming down for the evening, she approached one of the dwarves using a pony-drawn wagon to carry materials from the mountain to Dale. She hired him to go with her to pick up the basket and load it into the wagon for the rest of the trip up to Erebor. They chatted casually about various things, mostly about how the dwarf had recognized her as Manwë’s Chosen, and he wondered why she had requested a wagon instead of just flying to Erebor.

Penny’s answer that she liked to keep the gate guards on their toes and arriving by cart would really throw them off kilter amused the dwarf. It amused him even more when the guards helped him unload the basket from the cart at the gate and made Manwë’s chosen wait while letting him in. Penny grinned and waved cheerfully to the dwarf while she waited.

“You know they hate it when you make them look stupid like that, don’t you?” Dwalin asked almost conversationally as he meandered out of the gate. “Makes them grumpy for weeks.”

“I don’t see how it’s my fault.” Penny mused, though it was obvious she was barely holding back a wide smile. “I arrived in a perfectly normal fashion.”

“During the evening rush,” Dwalin observed, “and since you  _ never _ arrive like a normal person, you’ll have them all on edge for ages. Makes my job harder, you know.”

“Well, I hired a cart from Dale, I wasn’t exactly timing my arrival. I just took advantage of them heading this way.” Penny said. “And if it helps, I absolutely plan on leaving in a way that’s in no way normal.” She patted the covered basket beside her. It was rectangular and large enough to hold a dozen adult dwarves while being tall enough to reach Dwalin’s shoulders.

“Sounds about right,” the large dwarf muttered. “Gimli, lad!” He bellowed, summoning another dwarf from just inside the gate. “Take the Chosen One to her sister, will you?” He looked at the dwelf. “I know you know the way, before you decide to say anything on the matter. It’s for  _ appearances _ , alright? Can’t make Thorin and the rest look as bad as you’ve made this useless lot look.”

Penny moved aside part of the covering on the basket, showing the finely woven corner before she pulled out her pack and recovered the basket. She slung the pack over one shoulder and eagerly turned toward the approaching Gimli. “I have no problems with it at all, your highness.” She smiled briefly at Dwalin. “You have made my day with this decision.” She was positively giddy at the idea of getting to talk with Gimli.

“Last person who called me that got belted with an axe, lass,” Dwalin observed. “It’s an empty title anyway. Done well enough without it, don’t need it now I’m married to Dís either. Now, My  _ Lady _ , if you would follow Gimli.”

The dwelf snorted softly. “Refer to me as  _ Chosen One _ or  _ Lady _ and you’ll just have to deal with the  _ highnesses _ ,  _ Prince _ Dwalin.” Penny teased, giving him a little salute before turning her attention to Gimli. “I was blessed with getting to hear a lot about you on my first trip to Erebor, Master Gimli… How much is true of what your father has told us?”

“Depends on how inclined he was to exaggerate at the time,” Gimli shrugged. “I have yet to meet a parent who did  _ not _ embellish their child’s achievements somewhat, I see no reason that my father would be all that different.”

“I can mostly understand that.” Penny agreed. “I used to brag about my nieces and nephews all of the time. Unfortunately I don’t get to see my current ones often enough to know what I should brag about.” She considered, thinking of the various tales Glóin had told. “How about this one?” And she recited, almost word-perfect, one of Glóin’s tales of Gimli the Magnificent. One that any parent would be proud of but would probably embarrass the hell out of the child.

Gimli groaned. “Only about half of that is true,” he shrugged. “And Fíli and Kíli got me into the whole mess in the first place.”

Penny looked delighted. “That makes my day.” She told him. “I was always told they were troublemakers.” She considered a thought for a moment. “Should my tests with Vesta prove successful, will you be joining the group heading to Imladris?”

“Aye, the quest for Erebor had a sobering effect, there’s no denying that,” Gimli nodded, “but they were changing even before that. Started about ten years or so before I suppose. Although that could just have been Fíli coming of age. He was always the brains behind the mischief anyway.” He thought about it. “As far as I know I will be, unless the Mirkwood lot turn up again without warning. Then I’ll very likely end up smoothing ruffled feathers all over the place.  _ Again _ .”

Of course Penny knew exactly how long before the quest that she and Vesta had arrived, so she could not help but wonder if Vesta’s arrival in Middle-Earth had anything to do with Fíli’s changing away from being a troublemaker. Gimli quickly distracted her from her thoughts. “How bad is the trouble they are causing? Because I have a lot more pull with the elves than most people seem to realize and I can speak to Thranduil…”

“Nothing the princess doesn’t believe I can handle,” Gimli smiled proudly.

“Then you must have formidable skills indeed, Master Gimli.” Penny bowed slightly to acknowledge the fact. “I know from experience that dealing with elves can be trying at times, fortunately for me they were ill-equipped to deal with a woman willing to scream and curse at them. I trust your tactics are much better than my own.”

“I’ll not lie, I’ve been tempted to put my axe in a few of them,” Gimli agreed. “That son of Thranduil’s included to start. His head was so far up his own arse it’s a wonder he could see where he was going.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Of course, now that we’ve come to know one another a bit, our ability to deal with one another has improved somewhat.”

It was pretty much all Penny could do to not accidentally turn into a cloud and spin all around Gimli in her glee. She cleared her throat, using the action to hide a grin before she could get it under control. “I have not had a chance to personally interact with Prince Legolas, but I have heard from others within the Wood that he is much improved since the energy that cleansed the darkness from the forest. I am glad you never had to deal with him before if he is giving you troubles now.”

“The princess spoke of her own dealings with him during her imprisonment,” the was a subtle growl to the last word which showed quite clearly what Gimli thought of that particular incident. “She was certain that he would be more open given time. I doubted her to start, but as ever she  _ seems _ to know what she’s talking about.”

“He handled that very well considering that for the most part he was being forced into it by his own king and father.” Penny said slowly, trying to remember the stories and what little interaction she had with Legolas during the whole incident. “Especially considering Bilbo, Vesta, and the rest were doing their absolute best to drive every elf insane. I think it speaks very highly of you that Vesta trusts you to handle dealing with him. It speaks well for your diplomatic skills which even now you display. You have afforded me more courtesy and friendship upon meeting than most every dwarf I have met. Normally they get one look at the points of my ears and automatically think ill of me.” There was very little room to mistake the gratitude in the dwelf’s voice.

"I don't think it's the ears," Gimli said after a moment. "You have something of a reputation for chaos, which is all well and good, but not on our own doorstep, you understand?" He gave her an apologetic smile. 

The dwelf considered it fairly. She could understand, but personally thought a little chaos was more fun. “Ah, but it started before all of that.” Penny said. “When I was trying to help rebuild and the only contact any of the dwarves had with me was during the battle, after which I was mostly in Dale with Glorfindel right up until Fíli came to me requesting I help Vesta. Perhaps stealing Mahal’s Blessing out of the mountain with only Fíli and Nori knowing I was up to anything was a rather bad idea, but I would have ended up hurting anyone that tried to stop me from taking her away at that point.”

"If you've heard half the tales of that battle that I have," Gimli informed her, "you would understand where that reputation started. Not to mention stealing our Blessing from under her guard's nose. Dwarves gossip worse than old fish wives or horse masters. You're the stuff of legend, and even though legends are all well and good in the distant past, they're a bit startling in the present. I imagine elves are somewhat better at dealing with such things." He shrugged. "How ever it started," he mused, "it doesn't change the reasoning for folks to be wary  _ now _ . Especially after that thing with the boat."

“Stuff of legends…” Penny said slowly before making a scoffing sound. “Legends...” She shook her head. In her experience people only became legends when they died. Like her husband. “It probably isn’t saying much, but where I’m from most people wouldn’t even bat an eye at the way I behave.” She could imagine one or two camera phones coming out so people could post things on various social media sites, but other than that? Nothing remarkable. Then he had to go and mention the ship incident. Penny could not help the snicker that escaped her. “I can’t help that, I still think it was hilarious. I didn’t realize how close we could sail the Wedhellion to the mountain and once we were there… Well.” She giggled softly.

"You didn't have to talk down a mountain full of dwarves out to burn the ship, and it's owner, more than once," Gimli shrugged. "It still pops up when you visit. My Ma once told me that jokes like that are only funny if everyone involved with it finds it funny. It's why I always kept mine small, Fíli and Kíli too. But, not my place to tell you what to do or not do. Got enough on my plate as it is, trying to keep Manwë's Chosen from upsetting the population is too large a task for me. Especially if your sister can't manage it."

“This is what I get for being sent to a world where the sense of humors are even more off than they were where I came from.” Penny mused with a sigh, more to herself than anything. “What good would one ship, and not even a full sized one, actually do against an entire mountain?” The dwelf shook her head. She thought it was obvious that whomever did something like that either had balls of steel, was being clearly ridiculous, or absolutely insane… And apparently they had settled on insane and so had to keep a wary eye on the nutcase. “If it makes you feel better,” Penny finally said, “I intentionally keep my visits few and far between because I know I upset the people here.”

Gimli gave her a long look. “You got it to the foot of the mountain,” he pointed out, “it was only a concern when it turned out to be  _ you _ . As I said, we all know what happened at the battle, so we all know that with or without the ship you have power enough to follow through on such a threat. And I also said, it is less the elf side of you, and more the chaos that follows which makes my people wary. Once such tales begin, it is always difficult to make them stop later on.”

“And when have I ever used my gift against a dwarf?” Penny wondered, incredulous. “Because I showed a power I was willing to use against  _ orcs _ that means I’m a threat to dwarves?! That’s insane logic and discrimination.” She set her features, looking like she was just barely holding back fury.

“Used it?” Gimli asked. “To my knowledge never,” he shrugged, “but you should know how rumours get blown out of proportion. And you did turn up threatening to take the things most precious to us. It doesn’t take much to start a rumour. Takes a lot more to put a stop to it. It’s one of the reasons the princess watches what she says publicly so carefully.” He snorted. “We all know she’s more than capable of frying any threat to her or her family, we’ve seen it happen, which means that it is well within the realms of possibility that you could use yours against a threat. Did you know that Dori can drown anyone without even a drop of water nearby? You have to admire the control he’s had all these years for  _ not _ doing it before his ties to Ulmo were revealed.”

“I have only used my gift against  _ one _ person that was not an orc, goblin, warg, troll, wolf, bear, deer, rabbit, or whatever other animal I decided I wanted for dinner while I was traveling. Do you want to know what happened to that person?” Penny wondered. After a moment, she said, “I did something far worse than anything my gift could do... I married him.”

Gimli looked up at her for a long moment, then he burst out laughing. “Well, that’s one way of looking at it,” he said a little gleefully as they approached Vesta’s home. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said as he pushed the door open, “and I hope to know more of you while you’re here. I might even hope to go to Rivendell as well, so long as the Mirkwood elves can keep to themselves for a while.”

The dwelf looked pleased with herself for making Gimli laugh. “I would like to know more of you as well, something beyond your father’s boasting stories. Perhaps learn a boastful story of my own about the tales of Gimli the Magnificent.” Then she looked thoughtful for a moment. “I could always suggest to Thranduil that the Mirkwood elves come to Imladris as well… I’m sure he would see it as a fine opportunity to gather information so that he could gloat over being superior to Elrond. Then you would not have to worry about what they might get up to here.”

“I thought we were going to a wedding?” Gimli asked as Vesta emerged from her office.

“We are,” she said, “inviting random people to someone else’s wedding is generally frowned on,” the dwobbit pointed out to her sister.

“I’m not inviting them to the wedding.” Penny chided. “I’m inviting them to a diplomatic meeting in Imladris. I can’t help it if there just happens to be a wedding in the same time frame.”

“I’ll let you explain that to Niphredil,” the dwobbit shrugged. “How is she, anyway? The last letter I got was somewhat…” she glanced at Gimli. “Frantic.” She gave the dwarf a bright smile. “Thorin was looking for you,” she told him. “It figures that Dwalin dragged you off to collect this one.”

Gimli shrugged. “It was no bother,” he said, “I had better go and see what my king wants of me,” he bowed, “if you will excuse me.” The dwobbit watched him leave fondly before turning her attention back to her sister.

Penny nodded politely to Gimli as he left and, once they were in the clear, she swooped to give Vesta a hug. This time she did not scoop the dwobbit off her feet, merely giving her a normal hug for once. “So should I smoke back to Imladris later and ask Niphredil, or should I just go straight to informing Legolas that Gimli’s going to be gone, so stay in Mirkwood for a while?”

Vesta arched an eyebrow at her sister and then ushered her into the office. “The walls have ears,” she reminded Penny as she shut the door. “And they aren’t there yet. Thranduil sends Legolas with the envoys because he has the authority to tell them to keep their mouths  _ shut _ .” She pulled another sheet of parchment off the table and scowled at it. “At the moment they basically tolerate each other. Without an epic quest it will probably take a lot longer for them to go past that, if they ever do at all.”

“I really hate the mountain sometimes.” Penny lamented. Before instantly patting a wall. “Not literally!” She soothed Erebor, not that the mountain was really paying attention to her at the moment. “Just the idiot things the dwarves inside do.” She hummed, “Epic quest… For Moria perhaps?” Then she wondered, “How’s the typewriter working out? You would not believe how many are being worked on in Imladris since the smiths realized what the thing can do...”

“The life of a princess,” Vesta shrugged. “You get used to it. Not that different to being a celebrity in the Before either. And the Men do it too, you’ll probably find it even happens in Mirkwood. Although that would probably be less spying on Thranduil and more on  _ our _ envoys but that’s neither here nor there.” She looked at the typewriter which was sat on one side of her desk. “I still default to pen and paper,” the dwobbit admitted, “but I did that in the Before anyway. But it’s been really useful in other ways. You know the dwarves have a kind of carbon paper? We managed to get it to feed through with two pieces of paper so I can make copies quickly when I need to.”

“Everyone is too trusting in Imladris, I guess. The only nosiness they bother with is gossip and what they see out in the open.” The dwelf sighed before perking up. “Carbon paper! I used to have so much fun with that stuff when I was a kid. I’m glad it could help. I mostly just missed typing on the keys and being able to actually read what I try to write.”

“That’s because Imladris is a safe place,” Vesta replied. “Even the Shire has its eavesdropping busybodies you know.” She shook her head. “Even in the Before I was all about the aesthetic of a thing. The pens here weren’t too much of a shift because I  _ had _ one that I used fairly regularly. And learning a new alphabet improved my handwriting. I guess I got lucky, or the Valar interfered there as well so that I wouldn’t struggle too much with  _ this _ part of the job.” She gestured to the piles of parchment. “All of this to get done before we leave for a couple of weeks. Fíli and Kíli probably have double this amount. Imagine what we’ll end up with before we mount an assault on Moria!”

“I spent too much time on a computer Before.” Penny said. “Reached the point where my hand hurt if I wrote more than a sentence on paper when I still have traces of calluses on my fingers from holding a pen or pencil before I got my first computer.” The dwelf raised her right hand and pointed to the tiny elevation on the last knuckle of her ring finger and then a discolored spot near the base of the inside of her thumb. “I don’t want to rebuild those calluses, so I write as little as possible…” Of course the only reason they were visible was because thanks to Elrond being a dick and giving her paperwork the calluses were threatening to return full force. But then she looked confused. “Considering you don’t plan on returning from Moria, I would hope that by the time you leave they would have someone else doing your work entirely, not piling more onto your desk.”

“Mine never went away,” Vesta shrugged. “Aside from having a thriving collection of people to write to,” by which she meant Bilbo and Nori while they were in Rivendell, and her friends in Rivendell when she was elsewhere, “I always wrote by hand first. Even when I was studying and they tried to encourage us to type notes I just couldn’t get things to stick unless I wrote it by hand.” Then she snorted. “Ah, but there will be the supply requisitions, details about who is and isn’t coming with us, information about the people we’ll need to advise if something happens to them, funds…” she sighed. “Even if we don’t deal with the minutia we’ll have to sign off on it all.”

Penny had kind of forgotten all of the letter writing. She glanced upward and around, almost as if she could see Dís somewhere through the walls before she mentally shrugged it off. “My head just hurts thinking about it. I spoke to Elrond about what Manwë told me about finding a new home for the remaining elves and he said, ‘All the rest of us are leaving, just take what we leave behind with you.’” She sighed. “I hate packing and moving… Think we can hire Men or Dwarves as a moving service?” The dwelf had never thought of the frequent trips out of Imladris as ‘moving’ even if she was gone for years at a time sometimes. “So my trip is pretty open ended, when do you think you’ll get time off so we can work on the heat for the balloon?”

“There are dwarves who’ll do it if you pay them enough,” Vesta shrugged. “The ones who run the trade caravans always like to have something on the go, they get antsy when they don’t have anything to transport places.” She thought for a moment. “Tomorrow afternoon probably, if you need help getting it set up I can get some people in for you. Dwalin always has a few that need the extra work.”

“We’ll see. I don’t want to upset his people by making them work with me.” The dwelf yawned, even though she had not done anything particularly strenuous that day… Only fly halfway across middle-earth, but she had done that many times. “I’ll head down to the inn, take a bath and then sleep. See you outside in the afternoon?”

"Extra work means extra pay," Vesta replied. "Extra pay means they're that much closer to affording to get married. You might find your visits easier if you actually try working  _ with  _ them instead of  _ around  _ them. Especially if you want to employ them to do things later." Then she sighed. "Get some sleep, we'll see what needs to be done tomorrow."

“I’ll talk to Dwalin.” Penny leaned down and kissed Vesta’s cheek. “See you tomorrow.” The dwelf departed, heading back through the halls of the mountain and toward Bilbo and Bofur’s inn. Once there she hugged the hobbit, congratulated them, and then put on a pathetic face when she asked for some quiet corner to curl up in and sleep… This of course got Bilbo’s hobbit sensibilities in a tizzy and he bustled the dwelf off to a room where, despite her earlier comment about a bath, the dwelf flopped down onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

\- - -

Vesta already knew which dwarves Dwalin would send to help Penny set up the balloon. She was sure that her sister would be upset about that later, given they had planned it before Penny’s arrival, but even though they were flying to Imladris there was simply no way that the heirs to the throne of Erebor and their three children could leave the mountain without a guard. No matter  _ what _ Vesta and Penny were capable of. With that in mind, the dwobbit had asked her friend to find those among the guard who were most likely to be able to work with her sister, not provoke the elves still in Imladris unnecessarily and who would be willing to go up in an untested flying contraption.

Frankly she had expected Dwalin to have a harder job of it. Instead he had come up with no less than thirty possible candidates and given they only needed eight guards with them they were now faced with the daunting task of thinning the numbers. It probably had something to do with the fact that they had offered a substantial sum to those who were to come with them. All Vesta could think to do was for Dwalin to assign some to helping Penny put up the balloon and others to serve as test subjects for when the pair did practice runs with it. It had been a surprise when Dwalin had agreed. All they needed to do was wait until Penny let him know how much help she would need getting the balloon set up. At least that way they would know ahead of time who was and was not willing to work with the dwelf.

Of course, when she finally showed up not long after lunch, the dwelf had no clue how many she would need to assist setting it up. “The elves can be prissy bastards. So they always babied it, scouring every inch for any scratch. And they always wanted to admire their work. So, not sure how many it will take to set it up. It’s mostly just carrying it to an open space and checking that there are no holes in the balloon as it’s unfolded. I have a patch kit, just in case.” She said. “And then one or two to hold the ring at the end while I start inflating the thing. The air inside doesn’t need to be heated until you’re ready for it to start flying, so I can do most of the inflating on my own.”

Dwalin gave Penny a dozen dwarves for the first setup and they would adjust from there. The space the dwelf led them to as they carried out the covered basket was out in the open, where none of the traffic to and from the mountain would run over anything, and was much larger than any of the dwarves were expecting. They set it down and helped the dwelf take the tent covering off of the basket. The basket itself was tightly woven wood with a subtle pattern in the weave based on the shade of the wood used. There were six ‘windows’ on each of the long side, three about thigh-high to a dwarf and three closer to the top, and two on each end, one thigh-height and one near the top. The ‘windows’ were woven into the pattern with wooden ‘bars’ to prevent anything big from falling through while still allowing someone to look through. The ‘windows’ thankfully came with rolled up ‘curtains’ that could be untied and covered if someone particularly did not wish to see the view. The floor of the balloon was sturdy and thick with the spring shock absorbers the elves had crafted into it. The frame that the wood had been woven to was solid metal with the equivalent of roll bars across the top and sides. One of the long sides of the basket had a door in the middle that was triple barred on both sides. It was definitely an interesting sight.

But the thick padding of material atop the basket that had been dyed a light blue was what the dwelf had really requested assistance for. Penny instructed the dwarves in setting the folded canvas down and then unrolling it, requesting that they check for holes and tears as it was unfolded. While they did that, Penny pulled ropes tied to metal stakes from each corner of the basket. Then she pulled out a dwarven carpenter’s hammer she had purchased just that morning to hammer the stakes into the ground.

As the balloon was unfolded, more dwarves were needed to cover the area of checking for holes and tears as it was opened. The thing was massive and, when they finally finished that, it was clearly larger than any of them were expecting. It was at least ninety feet wide and over a hundred and thirty feet long, covered in a mesh webwork of ropes that were attached to the basket. There was also a pattern in different colors on the side, though with it laying down there was no way to properly identify the design. Once the balloon was unfolded, the dwelf moved to the end nearest the basket and reached down, picking up some metal half circles before clicking and locking them into place to reveal a large hoop that was easily as big around as she was tall. 

Holding the hoop on end, Penny said, “Now I just need a couple of you to hold this up while I start pulling air into it. Eventually there will be enough air inside that you won’t have to hold it anymore. But it won’t lift into the sky until the air inside is hot, which is what Vesta will be doing.”

When the volunteers were in place, the dwelf hopped up to sit on one of the roll bars atop the basket and focused. There was a shift in the air pressure as she funneled and pulled and soon there was a strong, steady stream of air blowing into the balloon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy UK Mother's Day to Artemis and all the other UK mothers out there! ♥


End file.
